THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


A 

HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 


FROM  THE  APOSTOLIC   FATHERS  TO 

THE  GREAT  REFORMERS 

A.  D.  70—1572 


BY 

EDWIN  CHARLES  DARGAN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

PKOFEBSOB  OP  HOMILETICS  IS  THE  SOOTHES*  BAPTIST  THEOLOGICAL 
8KJUXAUT,  LOUISVILLE,  K.KSTUOKT 


LONDON 

HODDER  AND   STOUGHTON 

27  PATERNOSTER  ROW 
1905 


TO  THE 

CHERISHED  AND  REVERED 
MEMORY  OF 

JOHN  ALBERT  BROADUS 

A   PUPIL'S 
GRATEFUL  OFFERING 


BK 

V207 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

i/.l 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION. 3 

PERIOD   I.     A.  D.   70-430. 

CHAPTER  I.     PREACHING  DURING  THE  FIRST  THREE  CEN- 
TURIES        29 

CHAPTER  II.     THE  CULMINATION  OF  ANCIENT  PREACHING 

IN  THE  FOURTH  CENTURY 60 

PERIOD   II.     430-1095. 

CHAPTER  III.     THE  DECLINE  OF  PREACHING  IN  THE  FIFTH 

AND  SIXTH  CENTURIES 105 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  Low  ESTATE  OF  PREACHING  IN  THE 

SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CENTURIES 129 

CHAPTER  V.     VOICES  IN  THE  NIGHT,  OR  PREACHING  DURING 

THE  NINTH,  TENTH  AND  ELEVENTH  CENTURIES    .        .     154 

PERIOD  III.     1095-136!. 

CHAPTER  VI.     HERALDS  OF  THE  DAWN  IN  THE  ELEVENTH 

AND  TWELFTH  CENTURIES        ...        .        .        .        .174 

CHAPTER    VII.    THE  CULMINATION  OF  MEDIAEVAL  PREACH- 
ING IN  THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY         ....     218 

CHAPTER  VIII.     DECLINE  AND   MYSTICISM    IN   THE   THIR- 
TEENTH AND  FOURTEENTH  CENTURIES     ....     262 

PERIOD   IV.     1361-1572. 

CHAPTER  IX.    THE  RENAISSANCE,  AND  PREACHING  IN  THE 

FOURTEENTH  AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES       .        .        .    289 

CHAPTER  X.     PREACHERS  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  AND   FIF- 
TEENTH CENTURIES  .        .        .        .        .       .        ,        .     316 

CHAPTER  XI.    THE  REFORMATION,  AND  PREACHING  IN  THE 

SIXTEENTH  CENTURY       .,,,,..    358 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XII.     PREACHERS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN  GER- 
MANY AND  GERMAN  SWITZERLAND  .        .        .        .        .     383 

CHAPTER    XIII.      PREACHERS    OF   THE    REFORMATION    m 

FRANCE  AND  OTHER  EUROPEAN  LANDS  ....     430 

CHAPTER  XIV.     PREACHERS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENG- 
LAND AND  SCOTLAND 473 

CHAPTER  XV.  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PREACHING  AND  PREACHERS 

IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 524 

CHAPTER  XVI.     PREACHING   AT   THE  THRESHOLD  OF  THE 

MODERN  WORLD 552 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 565 

INDEX 568 


PREFACE 

The  following  work  is  the  fruit  of  studies  pursued  and 
judgments  formed  during  eleven  years  of  service  as  pro- 
fessor of  Homiletics  in  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  It  was  the  custom  of 
the  distinguished  and  lamented  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus,  the 
first  incumbent  of  that  chair,  to  give  every  year  instructive 
and  delightful  lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching. 
Under  his  inspiring  teaching  my  interest  as  a  student 
was  awakened  in  the  subject,  and  when  years  after- 
wards it  fell  to  me  first  to  share  his  labors  of  instruction 
and  then  to  succeed  to  them,  I  became  more  and  more 
deeply  interested  in  the  historical  part  of  the  course 
in  Homiletics. 

The  remarkable  lack  of  treatises  on  the  History  of 
Preaching,  especially  in  English,  early  impressed  me,  and 
aroused  a  desire  to  do  something,  however  little,  towards 
supplying  the  need.  The  difficulty  of  the  task  and  the 
pressure  of  other  and  heavy  burdens  have  occasioned 
many  misgivings  and  delays,  and  there  have  been  of 
necessity  changes  of  plan  in  the  execution  of  the  work. 
As  now  planned  the  present  volume  is  the  first  of  three 
proposed  books.  It  deals  with  the  history  up  to  and 
including  the  Reformation,  the  next  will  treat  of  Modern 
European  preaching,  and  the  last  will  present  a  History 
of  Preaching  in  the  United  States.  Some  material  is 
in  hand  for  these  later  works,  and  should  this  one  be  fort- 
unate enough  to  find  a  public,  and  should  life  and  leisure 
be  granted  me,  I  hope  in  time  to  produce  them. 

For  the  completion  of  the  present  volume  opportunity 
was  kindly  afforded  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Seminary  in 
granting  me  leave  of  absence  for  some  months  to  visit 
Europe.  While  abroad  from  June,  1902,  to  January,  1903, 
I  had  time  not  only  to  write  up  much  material  already 
gathered,  but  to  visit  some  of  the  places  made  famous 
in  the  history  of  the  pulpit,  and  to  read  somewhat  in  a 
number  of  the  great  libraries,  including  those  at  Berlin, 


2  PREFACE 

Leipzig,  Rome,  Zurich,  Geneva,  and  Paris.  I  am  in- 
debted for  courtesies  to  the  managers  at  these  and  other 
places. 

In  the  use  of  the  materials  which  I  had  to  study,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  three  methods  have  found  place:  (i) 
Much  of  the  work  done  and  critical  judgments  reached 
is  based  on  personal  and  independent  study  of  the  orig- 
inal sources;  (2)  Much  more,  however,  is  of  that  min- 
gled sort  which  rests  partly  and  often  chiefly  on  the  work 
of  others,  and  yet  has  been  confirmed,  enlarged  or  modi- 
fied by  contact  with  the  sources;  (3)  In  a  few  cases, 
where  circumstances  warranted  or  seemed  to  require  it, 
I  have  simply  adopted  information  obtained  or  views 
expressed  by  others.  I  have  endeavored,  either  in  the 
text  or  footnotes,  to  give  the  requisite  indications  as  to 
which  method  has  been  used.  But  every  one  who  has 
attempted  this  kind  of  writing  knows  how  utterly  im- 
possible it  is  in  all  cases  to  distinguish  sharply  between 
what  may  be  properly  regarded  as  the  author's  own  work, 
and  that  which  he  owes  to  others.  I  can  only  say  that 
I  have  tried  to  make  an  honest  book,  and  hereby  cheer- 
fully acknowledge  my  great  indebtedness  to  many  excel- 
lent workers  in  this  field.  I  trust  the  book  may  find,  both 
among  my  brethren  of  the  Christian  ministry  and  among 
others,  readers  who  in  their  turn  may  find  some  pleasure 
and  profit  in  perusing  even  so  imperfect  a  presentation 
of  the  History  of  Preaching. 

E.  C.  D. 

Louisville,  Kentucky,  December,  1904. 


INTRODUCTION 
i.  THE  NEED  OF  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

The  history  of  preaching  has  not  yet  been  adequately 
written.  A  few  works,  all  of  them  more  or  less  fragment- 
ary and  incomplete,  deal  with  the  subject  as  a  whole;  a 
larger  number,  some  of  them  remarkably  good  and  satis- 
factory, treat  of  particular  epochs  or  phases  of  the  his- 
tory; some  attention,  incidental  and  often  superficial,  has 
been  given  to  preaching  by  writers  of  general,  eccles- 
iastical, and  literary  histories ;  and  this  is  all.  A  thorough, 
comprehensive,  well-proportioned  and  reasonably  com- 
plete account  of  preaching  in  all  periods  and  countries 
does  not  exist,  either  as  the  great  work  of  a  single  author 
or  as  a  connected  series  of  studies  by  different  authors. 

This  lack  of  suitable  historic  treatment  has  been  va- 
riously noticed  by  different  writers.  Thus  Van  Ooster- 
zee,1  in  commenting  on  the  lack  of  historic  knowledge 
among  preachers  themselves  concerning  their  work,  says, 
"There  is  still  wanting  a  good  history  of  the  art  of 
preaching  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day ; " 
and  further,  "  The  wish  cannot  be  suppressed  that  a 
qualified  and  vigorous  hand  might  yet  be  impelled  satis- 
factorily to  fill  up  this  gap  in  the  historic-theologic  litera- 
ture." Christlieb,2  in  noticing  the  failure  yet  to  produce 
an  "  all-round,  satisfying,  comprehensive  history,"  seems 
to  give  up  the  expectation  as  hopeless,  because  no  one 
is  likely  to  have  the  "  capacity  and  leisure  "  for  so  vast 
an  undertaking.  A  recent  French  Catholic  writer,  the 
Abbe  Boucher,3  rather  lightly  dismisses  the  matter  with 
the  remark  that  such  a  work  would  be  unnecessary  as  it 
would  really  be  a  history  of  the  progress  of  Christianity. 
This  is  too  superficial  a  view;  and  the  suggestion  of 
Christlieb  is  no  more  appropriate  for  the  history  of 

*  Practical  Theology  (Am.  ed.),  PP-  67,  68. 

2  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  article  in  the  Herzog-Plitt  Real-Ency- 
filopadie,  Bd.  18,  S.  466. 
?lJfLloyuence  de  la  Chaire,  Introduction. 


4  INTRODUCTION 

preaching  than  for  other  subjects  which  coyer  vast  fields, 
long  periods,  and  practically  limitless  materials. 

The  materials  for  writing  the  history  of  the  Christian 
pulpit  are  abundant,  for  some  epochs  superabundant. 
Only  for  a  few  and  comparatively  unimportant  periods 
and  departments  of  the  subject  is  there  scarcity.  These 
materials  consist,  first  of  all,  in  the  innumerable  biog- 
raphies and  sketches  of  preachers  of  all  ages  and  lands, 
and  in  the  practically  infinite  quantity  of  published  ser- 
mons. Then  account  must  be  taken  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tories and  archaeologies,  as  these  are  obviously  very 
closely  related  to  preaching.  And  then  the  histories  of 
civilization  and  of  literature  contain  much  that  bears  on 
preaching,  directly  and  indirectly;  and  of  course  some 
knowledge,  and  the  more  the  better,  of  general  history 
is  requisite  to  understanding  that  of  the  pulpit.  Besides 
these  sources  of  information  at  first  hand  there  is  a  con- 
siderable literature  which  discusses  different  branches  of 
the  general  subject,  and  is  indispensable  as  a  help  to  the 
historian.  There  are  not  a  few  excellent  treatises  and 
monographs  which  greatly  reduce  the  necessity  for  re- 
search in  some  quarters  of  the  field.  Evidently  the 
historian  of  preaching  has  at  his  disposal  ample  ma- 
terial for  his  work. 

In  fact  the  great  abundance  of  the  material  is  one  of 
the  chief  difficulties  in  the  way  of  writing  the  history 
of  preaching.  Even  allowing  for  all  the  helps,  and  press- 
ing the  principle  of  selection  as  far  as  is  admissible,  there 
still  remains  a  vast  bulk  of  literature  to  go  over,  a  deal 
of  information  to  accumulate,  study,  digest,  arrange,  and 
finally  set  forth  in  writing.  On  the  other  hand,  another 
difficulty  arises  from  the  lacks  and  gaps  in  the  literature. 
Many  periods  and  branches  of  the  subject  are  still  with- 
out adequate  treatment,  and  there  are  very  few  general 
works  to  serve  as  basis,  guide,  or  even  warning,  in  the 
production  of  a  really  complete  general  history.  When 
we  add  to  these  intrinsic  difficulties  of  the  task  the  exact- 
ing requisites  which  the  modern  critical  and  scientific 
spirit  lays  down  for  the  writing  of  history,1  we  cannot 

1See,  for  example,  how  these  are  set  forth  by  Langlois  and 
Seignobos,  in  their  valuable  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  History 
(Eng.  trans.). 


INTRODUCTION  5 

wonder  that  so  little  has  yet  been  accomplished  in  this 
department.  It  is  as  impossible  to  reach  perfection  in 
writing  history  as  in  any  other  human  undertaking,  and 
even  to  attain  to  excellence  requires  a  rare  combination 
of  aptitude,  learning,  practice,  enthusiasm,  patience  and 
leisure  which  might  well  appall  the  most  competent. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remembered  that  if  dif- 
ficulties of  this  sort  were  allowed  their  full  force  nobody 
worth  attending  to  would  have  the  courage  to  write  his- 
tory at  all;  for  these  obstacles  are  more  or  less  incident 
to  all  historical  research  and  writing.  There  is  no  more 
reason  why  a  history  of  preaching  should  be  given  up 
as  hopeless  than  histories  of  literature,  of  philosophy,  of 
art,  and  the  like. 

A  very  slight  glance  at  what  has  already  been  done  will 
justify  this  conclusion,  and  at  the  same  time  lead  to  a  con- 
sideration of  what  remains  to  be  done  in  this  too  much 
neglected  field.  Foot-notes  in  the  body  of  this  work  will 
give  a  fuller  account  of  the  literature.1  Here  only  some 
brief  statements  are  proposed.  The  literature  naturally 
falls  into  the  two  groups  of  general  and  special  works. 

Of  treatises  bearing  on  the  general  history  of  preaching 
three  sorts  may  be  specified.  First,  there  are  those  some- 
what fragmentary  works  which  may  be  called  contribu- 
tions to  the  history.  Here,  for  example,  belongs  the  old 
but  still  serviceable  book  of  Lentz,  Geschichte  der 
Homiletik,  published  in  1839,  containing  brief  biograph- 
ical and  critical  notices  of  some  of  the  more  noted 
preachers  of  ancient,  mediaeval  and  modern  times,  with 
selections  from  their  sermons.  Somewhat  like  this,  but 
with  full  sermons  and  proportionately  less  of  biographical 
and  critical  matter  is  the  valuable  collection  by  H.  C. 
Fish,  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Eloquence,  published  at  New 
York  in  1850,  and  still  reprinted.  Besides  these  are  sev- 
eral later  works,  in  various  languages,  of  this  general 
character. 

1  Paniel,  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Beredsamkeit,  in  the  intro- 
duction ably  reviews  the  earlier  literature  up  to  1831.  Christlieb, 
in  his  two  articles  in  Herzog-Plitt — Geschichte  der  Predigt  and 
Homiletik — also  has  a  good  review  of  the  literature  to  about  1886. 
Broadus  mentions  some  of  the  best  books  in  the  appendix  to  his 
Lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching. 


6  INTRODUCTION 

A  second  class  of  writings  dealing  with  the  whole  sub- 
ject are  certain  sketches,  or  compendious  outlines.  One 
of  the  best  of  these  is  that  of  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee  in  his 
Practical  Theology  (translation  published  at  New  York 
about  1879) ;  and  there  are  several  by  German  authors 
on  Homiletics,  as  Th.  Harnack,  Hering,  and  others ;  also 
the  sketch  by  Professor  Hoppin  in  his  Homiletics  is  spe- 
cially noteworthy,  as  he  discusses  American  preachers 
neglected  by  the  others.  But  by  far  the  most  comprehen- 
sive and  thorough  sketch,  so  complete  indeed  that  one 
hesitates  to  call  it  a  sketch,  is  the  great  article  by  Christ- 
lieb,  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  in  the  supplement  to  the 
eighteenth  volume  of  the  Herzog-Plitt  Real  Encyclo- 
padie.1  Even  in  its  present  form  it  is  the  nearest  ap- 
proach yet  made  to  a  complete  though  necessarily  com- 
pendious history. 

The  remaining  class  of  general  histories  of  preaching 
are  those  few  works  which  in  some  measure  present  a 
connected  view  of  the  whole  field.  In  1839  a  German 
scholar,  Paniel,  published  the  first  volume  of  a  proposed 
general  history  of  preaching  under  the  title  Pragmatische 
Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Beredsamkeit.  It  was  a  well- 
planned  work  and  showed  both  research  and  the  scien- 
tific spirit,  but  unhappily  it  remains  only  a  fragment, 
having  got  no  further  than  Augustine  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. It  is  still  valuable  for  the  early  centuries.  Next 
should  be  mentioned  the  Geschichte  der  Predigt  von  den 
Anfangen  bis  auf  Schleiermacher  of  Richard  Rothe, 
edited  from  his  manuscript  remains  by  Trumpelmann, 
and  published  in  1881.  This  came  nearer  being  a  gen- 
eral history  than  any  other  work  that  had  yet  appeared, 
but  it  is  full  of  gaps,  much  of  it  is  mere  compilation, 
and  it  lacks  completeness  and  finish  in  many  ways.  In 
1876  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  published  a  small  volume 
of  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching,  which  had  been 
delivered  at  Newton  Theological  Institution,  near  Bos- 
ton. The  book  does  not  profess  to  cover  the  ground  as 
a  formal  or  scientific  treatise,  but  contains  some  excellent 
work  in  the  way  of  historical  generalization  and  com- 
ment, of  discussion  of  certain  periods  and  men,  and  of 

1  At  the  time  of  this  writing  the  new  edition  (ed.  by  Professor 
Jiauck  of  Leipzig)  has  not  reached  this  article. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

keen  and  sympathetic  criticism.  Similar  in  method  are 
the  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching  (1888),  of 
Dr.  John  Ker  of  Scotland,  which  give  a  slight  account  of 
ancient  and  mediaeval  preaching,  but  chiefly  present  in 
a  very  pleasing  way  some  of  the  modern  German 
preachers.  There  is  a  spirited  and  readable  course  of 
lectures  by  the  late  Fleming  James,  D.D.,  The  Message 
and  the  Messengers  (1897),  which  is  not  a  history,  but, 
as  the  subtitle  correctly  describes  it,  a  series  of  "  lessons 
from  the  history  of  preaching."  The  most  recent  work 
is  that  of  the  late  Professor  T.  Harwood  Pattison,  of 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  Rochester,  New  York, 
The  History  of  Christian  Preaching.  The  work  is  much 
too  brief  to  present  adequate  consideration  of  the  great 
mass  of  material,  and  it  does  not  claim  to  be  a  complete 
history ;  but  it  gives  a  series  of  brilliant  short  sketches  of 
many  of  the  leading  preachers,  with  some  comment  on 
the  condition  of  preaching  in  all  the  Christian  ages. 

When  we  come  to  works  which  treat  of  special  epochs, 
countries,  sects,  or  other  departments  of  the  history  of 
preaching,  a  very  much  better  showing  can  be  made  for 
the  literature.  There  are  numerous  treatises  of  varying 
authorship,  date,  and  language.  Many  of  them  have  been 
of  inestimable  service  in  the  preparation  of  this  work, 
and  are  mentioned  in  the  foot-notes  where  appropriate,  so 
that  detailed  notice  is  not  here  needed. 

From  this  brief  general  mention  we  may  see  that  while 
something  has  been  done,  much  remains  yet  to  be  done 
in  this  inviting  field  of  religious  history. 

There  is,  and  of  course  always  will  be,  place  for  that 
class  of  writings  called  "  contributions  "  to  history,  that 
is,  accumulations  of  material  in  the  way  of  biographical, 
critical,  and  other  monographs,  which  will  facilitate  re- 
search and  study,  and  sometimes  even  render  them  un- 
necessary where  the  historian  can  depend  upon  a  careful 
and  judicious  investigator.  Some  of  the  special  works 
spoken  of  in  the  previous  paragraphs  are  admirable  speci- 
mens of  this  sort  of  writing,  but  there  is  need  for  many 
more  of  the  same  sort. 

But  the  most  pressing  present  need  is  a  general  his- 
tory. Such  a  work  might  take  one,  or  indeed  all,  of  three 
forms:  (i)  A  compendious  manual  covering  the  whole 


8  INTRODUCTION 

ground,  but  briefly  and  clearly;  (2)  A  larger  work  of 
several  volumes,  going  more  into  biographical,  critical 
and  general  historical  detail;  (3)  A  magnum  opus  of 
many  volumes  really  covering  the  subject  and  remaining 
a  complete  and  enduring  authority.  It  would  be  very 
difficult  for  any  one  scholar  nowadays  to  produce  a  work 
of  the  third  kind,  for  it  would  require  a  lifetime  of  leisure 
and  plenty  of  means  to  accomplish  the  task,  but  it  might 
be  done  in  shorter  time  by  the  cooperation  under  com- 
petent editorship  of  a  number  of  scholars  who  should 
devote  themselves  to  particular  epochs  and  countries. 
The  books  of  Broadus,  Ker,  and  especially  Pattison,  fall 
under  the  first  head.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  author  to 
meet  in  some  modest  measure  the  second  of  the  f oremen- 
tioned  needs.  But  it  will  require  many  works  of  many 
laborers  and  through  many  years  before  the  place  of 
preaching  in  human  history  can  be  adequately  set  forth. 
To  some  consideration  of  that  great  sphere  we  may  now 
appropriately  turn. 

2.  THE  PLACE  OF  PREACHING  IN  HISTORY 

Since  Christianity  became  an  active  force  in  human 
affairs  there  has  been  upward  and  onward  movement, 
and  one  mighty  factor  in  that  progress  has  been  preach- 
ing. There  are  a  number  of  ways  in  which  the  im- 
portance of  preaching  in  history  may  be  shown. 

The  most  remote  point  of  connection  should  be  first 
noted,  that  is,  the  influence  of  preaching  upon  the  gen- 
eral course  of  events.  The  influence  has  necessarily 
been  reciprocal — preaching  has  shaped  events,  and 
events  have  affected  preaching.  More  detailed  state- 
ments will  make  the  point  clearer. 

The  life  and  progress  of  nations,  the  rise  and  fall  of 
governments  have  often  been  closely  connected  with 
preaching.  This  is  no  extravagant  claim,  as  we  shall  have 
some  occasion  to  see  in  the  course  of  this  work.  The 
great  names  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  of  John  Chrysostom, 
of  Augustine  and  Ambrose,  of  Leo  and  Gregory,  of 
Boniface  and  Bernard,  of  Wiclif  and  Savonarola,  of 
Luther  and  Calvin  and  Knox,  of  Edwards,  Whitefield 
and  Wesley,  are  some  of  those  which  suggest  how 


INTRODUCTION  9 

variously  and  profoundly  the  larger  life  of  nations  has 
sometimes  been  influenced  by  the  preacher. 

In  regard  to  customs  and  morals,  however,  the  con- 
tact of  preaching  with  history  is  more  visible  and  fruit- 
ful. Preaching  has  profoundly  and  for  the  most  part 
wholesomely  influenced  the  morals  and  customs  of  man- 
kind. And  in  those  few  cases  where  the  influence  of  the 
pulpit  may  be  justly  open  to  criticism,  the  injurious 
effects  have  been  comparatively  trivial  and  not  per- 
manent. On  the  other  hand  preaching  has,  sometimes 
for  the  better  and  sometimes  for  the  worse,  received 
moulding  from  contemporary  customs  and  standards 
of  ethics.  While  this  sensitiveness  to  environment  has 
often  kept  the  pulpit  from  stagnation  and  given  to  it 
greater  power  to  deal  with  the  needs  of  the  times,  we 
must  confess  that  sometimes  public  sentiment  and  en- 
trenched evil,  rather  than  the  ostensibly  accepted 
higher  authorities,  have  colored  the  language  of 
sermons. 

Progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences  has  contributed  in 
many  ways  to  preaching.  Here  it  has  received  more 
than  it  has  given;  but  its  influence  has  not  been  void 
of  good  and  help  even  in  this  direction ;  for  the  pulpit  has 
many  a  time  given  intelligent  aid  and  stimulus  to  material 
enterprises  which  had  in  view  the  present  and  permanent 
good  of  mankind.  So  also  preaching  has  availed  itself 
of  the  advantages  of  commerce  to  herald  the  gospel  to 
other  lands  and  peoples,  and  used  many  an  improvement 
and  device  in  the  material  sphere  to  make  more  effective 
its  work  at  home. 

The  connection  of  preaching  with  the  progress  of 
human  culture  is  real  and  extensive.  Sometimes  there 
has  been  conflict,  sometimes  mutual  jealousy,  but  more 
frequently  reciprocal  and  cordial  help.  Let  us  notice 
some  of  the  particulars. 

As  to  art  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  music,  painting,  sculp- 
ture, architecture,  and  even  the  industrial  arts,  have  owed 
something  to  preaching,  and  preaching  something  to 
them.  But  no  great  amount  of  reciprocal  influence  is 
claimed  in  this  sphere. 

In  philosophy,  however,  the  mutual  influence  has  been 
profound  and  profoundly  important.  The  effect  has  not 


IO  INTRODUCTION 

always  been  for  the  best  on  either  party,  but  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  preaching  has  oftener  been  hurt  by  philosophy 
than  philosophy  by  preaching.  But  there  has  also  been 
wholesome  and  helpful  interaction.  Theology  and  ethics 
are  fundamental  in  pulpit  work,  and  their  relations  to 
philosophy  are  necessarily  close.  Names  of  preachers 
who  have  been  eminent  in  philosophical  work  and  in- 
fluence are  numerous;  a  few  of  the  most  important  are 
Justin  Martyr,  Origen,  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  Augustine, 
among  the  ancients ;  Anselm,  Aquinas,  and  others  of  the 
great  schoolmen  of  the  middle  ages ;  Eckhart  among  the 
mystics;  Calvin  among  the  theologians  of  the  Reforma- 
tion; Edwards  among  American  Puritans. 

In  regard  to  science  there  has  often  been  full  and 
cordial  mutual  recognition.  Some  eminent  scientists  have 
not  failed  in  reverence  for  Christian  institutions,  the  pul- 
pit included;  and  some  preachers  here  and  there  have 
been  skilled  scientists  in  various  branches.  But  on  the 
whole  it  must  be  sadly  admitted  that  the  relations  between 
science  and  the  pulpit  have  not  been  as  friendly  and 
mutually  profitable  as  could  be  wished.  If  the  progress 
of  science  has  at  times  suffered  from  the  dogmatism  of 
the  pulpit,  even  so  the  preaching  of  a  sorely  needed 
gospel  has  been  sometimes  hindered  or  harmed  in  effect 
by  the  dogmatism  of  science.  Preachers  have  been 
known  to  assail  science  in  an  unchristian  spirit,  and 
scientists  have  perhaps  as  often  denounced  and  dis- 
credited preaching  in  an  unscientific  spirit.  Pulpit  ignor- 
ance of  science  has  been  fairly  matched  by  scientific  ig- 
norance of  the  aims  and  realities  of  the  pulpit.  Narrow- 
ness and  arrogance  on  both  sides  have  done  their  full 
share  of  mischief.  It  is  time  for  a  better  understanding, 
for  mutual  respect,  for  more  cordial  united  service  be- 
tween these  two  great  agencies  for  human  good.  Rever- 
ent science  seeking  hidden  truth  should  surely  be  no  foe 
to  earnest  preaching  proclaiming  revealed  truth ;  and  the 
herald  of  God's  saving  grace  in  Christ  should  not  be  the 
enemy  of  the  searcher  after  God's  wondrous  thought  in 
creation.  There  is  room  in  God's  world  for  both  the 
scientist  and  the  preacher;  there  should  be  room  in  their 
hearts  for  each  other. 

In  the  very  nature  of  the  preacher's  work  lies  his  rela- 


INTRODUCTION  1 1 

tion  to  the  study  and  use  of  language.  The  proclama- 
tion of  the  gospel,  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  the 
creation  of  a  literature  of  Christian  instruction  in  many 
languages  of  the  earth  have  been  largely  the  work  of 
preachers.  The  impetus  thus  given  to  linguistic  science 
has  been  great  and  fruitful.  Nor  must  the  study  and  em- 
ployment of  language  for  the  high  purposes  of  discourse 
be  forgotten ;  not  a  few  preachers  have  been  masters  and 
models  of  eloquence. 

In  the  sphere  of  literature  there  has  been  great  and 
hearty  reciprocal  service.  Preaching  has  both  directly 
and  indirectly  contributed  much  to  literature.  Yet  it  must 
be  said  that  while  many  a  Paul  has  met  with  his  surprised 
and  admiring  Festus,  it  is  also  true  that  too  often  litera- 
ture, especially  fiction,  has  done  the  pulpit  injustice  by  its 
one-sided  presentation  of  the  weaker  or  extreme  types  of 
ministerial  character.  But  on  the  whole  literature  and  the 
preacher  have  through  many  moons  been  dear  lovers. 
Illiterate  preachers  have  served  to  emphasize  by  con- 
trast the  learning  of  their  more  cultured  brethren.  In- 
cidentally to  their  main  work  numbers  of  preachers  have 
won  enduring  laurels  in  the  republic  of  letters.  Often, 
too,  the  pen  of  the  writer  and  the  tongue  of  the  preacher 
have  been  allied  forces  in  campaigns  against  ignorance 
and  error. 

As  to  education  no  openminded  observer  can  fail  to  rec- 
ognize the  intimate  relations  between  it  and  preaching. 
The  debt  is  reciprocal  and  large;  and  it  has  been  so  all 
along  the  history  of  the  pulpit.  There  has  hardly  ever 
been  any  really  good  educational  movement  which  has 
failed  to  receive  the  steadfast  and  efficient  support  of  the 
preachers  as  a  class.  In  turn  education  has  given  her 
choicest  treasures  and  her  best  discipline  to  the  pulpit. 
Scientific  and  literary  training  have  both  served  the 
preacher,  naturally  the  latter  more;  and  especially  has 
there  been  necessarily  close  affinity  between  preaching 
and  rhetorical  culture.  Sometimes  this  has  been  unduly 
neglected,  and  sometimes  unduly  magnified.  Artistic, 
not  to  say  artificial,  oratory  has  not  seldom  been  am- 
bitiously substituted  for  simple  and  earnest  proclamation 
of  divine  truth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  faithful  presenta- 
tion of  the  gospel  has  often  exemplified  the  noblest  uses 


1 2  INTRODUCTION 

of  rhetoric,  and  the  work  of  the  pulpit  has  exhibited  not  a 
few  specimens  of  the  highest  oratory.  Thus  in  many 
ways  is  the  history  of  preaching  interwoven  with  that  of 
civilization  and  culture. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  largest  surface  of  contact 
between  preaching  and  history,  and  this,  of  course,  is  its 
place  in  the  religious  life  and  progress  of  mankind. 
Preaching  is  an  essential  part  and  a  distinguishing  feature 
of  Christianity,  and  accordingly  the  larger  history  of 
general  religious  movements  includes  that  of  preaching. 
Here,  as  before,  a  reciprocal  influence  must  be  reckoned 
with :  the  movement  has  sometimes  produced  the  preach- 
ing, the  preaching  sometimes  the  movement,  but  most 
commonly  they  have  each  helped  the  other.  Illustrations 
readily  occur. 

The  spread  of  Christianity,  both  geographically  and 
numerically,  has  been  largely  the  work  of  preaching.  The 
preacher  as  a  missionary  has  always  been  the  advance 
herald  of  the  gospel.  From  apostolic  days,  through  the 
long  Middle  Ages,  and  even  down  to  present  times  this 
has  been  true.  Moreover,  the  leavening  of  the  nations 
already  reached  by  the  gospel,  the  adding  to  the  church 
daily  those  who  are  being  saved,  is,  on  the  human  side 
and  to  a  great  extent,  the  result  of  preaching.  We  must 
not  underestimate  the  value  and  effect  of  personal  ex- 
ample and  suasion,  but  history  forbids  that  we  should 
assign  an  inferior  place  to  preaching  in  bringing  men  to 
know  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  in  training  them 
in  the  Christian  life,  doctrine  and  service.  For  spiritual 
life,  doctrine  and  service  are  the  very  marrow  of  the 
gospel,  and  therefore  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  The 
message  of  the  true  preacher  in  every  age  has  had  to  do 
with  these  fundamental  things.  On  the  other  hand, 
Christian  life  as  expressed  and  exemplified  in  eccles- 
iastical institutions,  and  Christian  doctrine  as  formally 
stated  in  creeds,  or  even  when  only  vaguely  underlying 
accepted  beliefs  and  usages,  have  in  their  turn  powerfully 
influenced  the  character  and  aims  of  preaching.  Alas! 
the  story  is  not  always  a  pleasing  one;  for  doctrinal  and 
sectarian  polemics  have  too  often  been  the  preacher's 
chief  concern. 

Human  progress  of  every  kind  is  usually  not  steady 


INTRODUCTION  13 

and  continuous,  but  rather  goes  by  waves,  like  the  ris- 
ing tide.  Declension  and  revival,  forward  and  backward, 
up  and  down,  these  are  the  common  Christian  phenomena, 
individual,  local,  general.  Even  the  most  superficial 
study  reveals  the  connection,  at  once  causal  and  resultant, 
between  movements  of  the  kind  described  and  preach- 
ing. Decline  of  spiritual  life  and  activity  in  the  churches 
is  commonly  accompanied  by  a  lifeless,  formal,  unfruit- 
ful preaching,  and  this  partly  as  cause,  partly  as  effect. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  great  revivals  of  Christian  his- 
tory can  most  usually  be  traced  to  the  work  of  the  pulpit, 
and  in  their  progress  they  have  developed  and  rendered 
possible  a  high  order  of  preaching. 

Again  and  again  in  the  following  pages  we  shall  see 
illustrations  of  the  p<*Sitions  taken  in  this  discussion,  and 
the  right  of  preaching  to  a  fair  large  room  in  history's 
many-chambered  mansion  may  easily  be  vindicated  and 
assured.  So  it  is  appropriate  at  this  point  of  our  intro- 
ductory studies  to  say  something  as  to  the  historic  origins 
of  preaching. 

3.  THE  HISTORIC  ORIGINS  OF  PREACHING 

History  is  a  study  of  origins  and  developments  in 
human  affairs.  Strictly  speaking  the  actual  beginnings  of 
most  human  institutions  are  difficult  to  discover,  and  our 
knowledge  of  them  is  chiefly  conjectural  or  inferential. 
What  we  call  beginnings  or  causes  are  themselves  effects 
of  previous  causes  and  movements,  and  what  we  call 
effects  may  be  the  causes  of  subsequent  events ;  and  so  the 
ceaseless  current  of  time  and  change  flows  on  and  on. 
The  history  of  any  people  or  subject,  to  be  complete,  must 
begin  as  far  back  as  knowledge  reaches  and  come  down  to 
present  times.  But  the  narrative  may  confine  itself  with- 
in more  or  less  arbitrary  limits  at  the  discretion  of  the 
historian.  The  scope  of  the  present  volume  is  to  trace 
the  history  of  preaching  from  the  Apostolic  Fathers  at 
the  end  of  the  first  century  to  and  including  the  great 
Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century.  But  it  seems  de- 
sirable to  give  here  at  least  a  summary  sketch  of  the 
origin  and  development  of  preaching  before  the  point  at 
which  the  more  detailed  account  begins,  in  order  that 


14  INTRODUCTION 

the  reader  may  have  before  him  to  some  extent  the  story 
from  the  beginnings  of  our  knowledge. 

There  are  three  great  converging  lines  of  preparation  in 
the  way  of  materials,  tendencies  and  events,  which  under 
providential  guidance  conspired  to  start,  in  the  age 
immediately  following  the  Apostles,  that  series  of  causes 
and  effects  which  we  are  to  study  under  the  name  of  the 
history  of  preaching.  These  three  elements  of  origina- 
tion, named  in  the  ascending  order  of  their  immediacy 
and  importance,  are  the  ancient  oratory,  the  Hebrew 
prophecy,  and  the  Christian  gospel.  From  this  last,  as 
directly  resting  upon  the  second,  and  after  a  time  consid- 
erably influenced  by  the  first,  came  preaching  as  history 
knows  it.  Oratory  and  prophecy  were  preparatory  and 
contributing  forces,  the  gospel  was  the  real  originating 
cause,  which  took  to  itself  elements  of  tendency  and  power 
from  both  the  others. 

How  soon  did  men  find  and  use  the  gift  of  persuasive 
speech?  How  long  came  oratory  after  language  itself? 
There  is  no  answer  to  these  questions.  It  is  likely  indeed 
that  oratory  grew  out  of  conversation,  but  its  use  and 
development  do  not  tell  the  story  of  its  origin.  Passing 
by  any  vague  theories,  whether  serious  or  humorous,  of  a 
possible  derivation  from  the  chatterings  of  supposititious 
simian  ancestors,  we  may  hazard  some  more  plausible 
conjectures  as  to  the  rise  and  use  of  oratory  before  we  dis- 
cover certain  traces  of  it  in  existing  records.  It  is  a 
natural  inference  that,  connected  with  the  desire  and 
capacity  of  one  person  to  influence  another,  language 
should  at  once  have  been  employed  for  this  purpose,  and 
that  from  such  use  in  conversation  and  dialogue  it  should 
have  come  to  be  employed  by  one  in  address  to  several 
others,  from  two  or  three  to  a  multitude. 

Spencer1  conjectures  that  oratory,  especially  religious 
oratory,  grew  out  of  laudatory  harangues  at  first  ad- 
dressed to  heroes  on  returning  from  victorious  wars,  and 
then  made  in  favor  of  deified  heroes,  and  so  of  the  gods. 
He  thinks  he  sees  traces  of  this  custom  in  the  acclama- 
tions of  Israel  at  the  Red  Sea,  and  at  the  victory  of  David 
over  Goliath,  and  outside  of  the  Biblical  records  in  some 
observances  of  the  Fiji  Islanders.  In  the  same  way  arose 
1  Principles  of  Sociology,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  216  ff. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

epic  poetry,  and  the  drama.  The  conjecture  seems  far- 
fetched, a  pound  of  inference  from  a  pennyweight  of  ob- 
servation. 

If  the  ethnological  theory  be  accepted  that  the  North 
American  Indians  represent  in  some  respects  the  stage  of 
development  reached  by  man  in  the  so-called  Stone  Age 
previous  to  recorded  history,  it  may  be  plausibly  claimed 
that  the  remarkable  eloquence  sometimes  exhibited  by 
these  "  untutored  children  of  the  forest "  was  a  sample  of 
prehistoric  oratory,  and  gives  real  trace  of  a  very  remote 
origin  of  the  use  of  persuasive  speech  for  personal  or 
public  ends.  But  leaving  these  theories,  let  us  come  to 
actual  history. 

The  three  great  civilizations  of  the  ancient  world — 
Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Persian — have  not  sent  down  to  us 
any  notable  contribution  to  oratory.  It  is  a  commonplace 
among  students  of  the  subject  that  despotic  governments 
are  not  favorable  to  eloquence,  and  it  is  probable  that 
oratory  was  not  much  cultivated  among  these  great 
peoples.  Yet  there  are  traces  of  its  existence.  The  coun- 
cils of  war  and  of  state,  the  royal  audiences,  petitions, 
pleas  for  justice,  and  the  like,  of  which  the  records  tell 
us,  indicate  at  least  some  place  and  need  for  oratory  as  an 
art.  In  the  Biblical  account  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
affairs  there  are  a  few  traces  of  the  use  of  public  persua- 
sive speech.  The  effort  of  Moses  to  be  excused  from 
going  to  Egypt  to  bring  up  the  Israelites,  on  the  ground 
of  his  lack  of  eloquence,1  is  suggestive  of  his  acquaintance 
with  the  need  of  gifts  in  that  direction  in  order  to  secure 
the  end  sought.  In  later  times  the  insolent  speeches  of 
Rabshakeh,  recorded  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Second 
Kings,  afford  evidence  that  the  art  was  not  unknown 
among  the  Assyrians.  Among  the  Hebrews,  besides 
the  work  of  the  prophets  to  which  more  detailed  attention 
will  be  given  later,  there  are  notices  here  and  there  of 
an  oratory  not  especially  or  at  all  religious.  The  speech 
of  Lamech2  to  his  wives  Adah  and  Zillah  has  been  ad- 
duced as  a  specimen  of  antediluvian  oratory,  but  it  more 
properly  belongs  to  poetry.  Professor  Sears3  pertinently 
inquires  as  to  what  kind  of  oratory  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Job  must  have  heard  in  order  to  produce  such 
1  Exod.  4 : 10  ff.  2  Gen.  4 : 23.  a  History  of  Oratory,  p.  28. 


1 6  INTRODUCTION 

speeches  as  those  uttered  by  the  interlocutors  in  that 
drama.  The  pathetic  and  simply  beautiful  speech  of 
Judah1  before  Joseph  in  Egypt  is  justly  admired  as  a 
choice  specimen  of  unpretentious  eloquence.  In  the  ninth 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  Judges  we  have  an  interesting 
speech  from  Jotham,2  who  compared  the  selection  of  his 
murderous  half-brother,  Abimelech,  to  be  ruler  or 
"  king  "  over  a  part  of  Israel,  to  the  choice  of  the  bramble 
as  king  by  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Besides,  there  are  a 
few  other  traces  of  a  secular,  or  at  least  not  distinctively 
religious,  oratory  in  the  Old  Testament.  But  on  the 
whole  the  oratory  of  the  ancient  peoples  before  the 
Grecian  and  Roman  times  was  not  abundant  in  quantity 
nor  of  the  highest  quality.  Its  value  as  literature  and  its 
significance  in  history  alike  are  slight. 

A  widely  different  state  of  affairs  greets  us  when  we 
come  to  study  the  oratory  of  the  Greeks.  Both  the  literary 
value  and  the  historic  importance  of  their  orations  are 
of  the  highest  sort.  Ancient  eloquence,  on  its  secular 
and  artistic  side,  reached  its  culmination  among  this 
gifted  and  versatile  people.  The  speeches  in  the  Homeric 
Poems  show  that  in  the  earliest,  semi-mythical  times  the 
Greeks  employed  and  prized  the  gift  of  eloquence.  The 
growth  of  political  freedom,  the  early  and  vigorous  devel- 
opment of  dialectic  philosophy,  the  cultivation  and  excel- 
lence of  art  and  literature,  along  with  the  imaginative  and 
lively  intellect  and  the  flexible  and  powerful  language  of 
the  Greeks,  all  contributed  to  their  marvellous  and  abid- 
ing attainments  in  the  field  of  oratory.3  It  was  cultivated 
in  all  the  Greek  countries,  but  reached  its  highest  stage 
of  development  at  Athens,  and  its  personal  acme  in 
Demosthenes.  Along  with  the  practice  of  public  speaking 
cafrne  the  theory,  the  reduction  to  principles  and  rules,  the 
teaching  of  rhetoric  as  an  art.  It  is  a  notable  coincidence 
that  Demosthenes,  the  greatest  orator  of  ancient  times, 
and  Aristotle,  the  great  philosopher,  and  author  of  the 
most  original  and  suggestive  treatise  on  rhetoric  in 
ancient  literature,  should  have  lived  at  the  same  time  and 
died  the  same  year,  322,  B.C.  With  the  passing  away  of 

1  Gen.  44 : 18.  *  See  Broadus,  History  of  Preaching,  p.  8. 

8  See  Crete's  History  of  Greece,  chaps.  46  and  67;  Jebb's  Attic 
Qrators,  introd. ;  Sears'  History  of  Oratory,  chaps.  II.- V, 


INTRODUCTION  1 7 

these  masters,  and  the  political  overthrow  of  ancient 
Greece,  the  oratory  of  the  Greeks  rapidly  degenerated. 
But  its  lasting  impress  had  been  left  on  the  history  of 
oratory,  and  of  civilization. 

The  Latin  oratory  was  not  of  so  excellent  quality  nor 
of  so  long  duration  as  the  Greek.  Here  too  theory  and 
practice  developed  together,  but  with  the  difference  that 
the  Romans  had  both  the  advantage  and  the  disadvantage 
of  possessing  the  Greek  models.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
Republic,  though  there  was  some  Greek  influence,  the 
Roman  oratory  was  more  independent  and  original,  and 
was  giving  promise  of  a  development  and  power  of  its 
own.  But  after  the  conquest  of  Greece  the  influence  of 
the  better  Greek  ideas  and  achievements  in  this  as  in  other 
lines  of  literature  was  irresistible,  and  Latin  oratory  is, 
for  the  comparatively  brief  period  of  its  development, 
mostly  imitation  or  adaptation  of  the  Greek. 

The  chief  representative  of  Roman  oratory  is  Cicero, 
who  died  B.C.  43.  But  there  were  a  number  of  others  too, 
and  these  gave  a  peculiar  Roman  stamp  to  their  oratory. 
The  Latin  mind  was  much  too  vigorous  not  to  be  some- 
thing of  a  Samson  even  in  the  chains  of  its  enthrallment 
to  Greek  models.  The  best  Latin  treatise  on  rhetoric,  that 
of  Quintilian,  was  published  probably  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  first  Christian  century,  or  the  early  part  of  the 
second.  It  is  one  of  the  very  best  works  of  all  time  on 
that  subject,  and  has  been  a  storehouse  for  all  subsequent 
writers  on  rhetoric.  In  literary  finish,  in  proportionate 
treatment  of  subjects,  in  fulness  of  material  and  com- 
pleteness of  range  it  excels  the  more  original,  suggestive 
and  profound  work  of  Aristotle. 

Among  both  Greeks  and  Romans  there  was  ample  pro- 
vision for  instruction  in  the  art  of  oratory.1  In  fact  this 
was  the  chief  element  of  ancient  education.  So  we  find 
that  at  the  coming  of  Christianity  rhetorical  treatises, 
teachers  and  schools  abounded,  many  speeches  of  the 

1  Information  is  obtainable  from  the  works  of  Grote  and  Jebb, 
previously  named ;  and  from  Davidson's  Aristotle  and  the  Ancient 
Educational  Ideals,  Hatch's  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1888  on  The  In- 
fluence of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the  Christian  Church,  and 
from  a  very  entertaining  and  instructive  article  by  M.  Gaston  Bois- 
sier  in  the  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  for  March  15,  1884  (Vol. 
LXII),  p.  316  ff.  on  Instruction  Publique  dans  I'Empire  Romain. 


1 8  INTRODUCTION 

greatest  Greek  and  Roman  orators  were  preserved  and 
potent  in  the  culture  of  the  age,  and  these  two  languages 
were  dominant  in  all  the  social  life  of  the  peoples,  among 
whom  the  new  religion  was  to  make  its  principal  advances 
for  centuries  to  come. 

The  Grseco-Roman  oratory  at  its  best  estate  was  lack- 
ing in  one  great  essential  to  the  highest  eloquence.  It 
had  no  religious  content,  and  but  incidentally  a  moral 
one.  The  accepted  division  of  oratory  into  its  kinds  was 
threefold:  deliberative,  or  political;  forensic,  or  judicial; 
and  epideictic,  or  declamatory.  The  first  two  are  easily 
enough  understood,  the  last  is  not  so  clear.  At  first  it 
was  meant  to  embrace  funeral  or  memorial  orations,  or 
panegyrical  discourses  upon  living  persons,  or  patriotic 
speeches,  or,  as  Aristotle  defines  it,  was  concerned  chiefly 
with  praise  and  blame.  But  in  this  classification  of  ora- 
tions there  is  notable  omission  of  the  didactic  element. 
There  was  nothing  in  ancient  oratory  corresponding  to 
our  lecture  platform  or  pulpit.  Lectures  by  teachers  were 
hardly  considered  as  belonging  to  oratory  at  all,  and  their 
declamations  given  as  models  to  their  pupils  would  prob- 
ably have  been  classed  under  the  third  division,  if  any- 
where. Of  course,  moral  teaching  could,  and  to  some  ex- 
tent actually  did,  find  place  in  all  three  kinds  of  speeches, 
but  it  was  incidental  to  their  main  purpose  in  each  case. 
A  fourth  kind  of  oratory,  not  that  of  the  deliberative 
political  assembly,  not  that  of  the  law  courts,  not 
that  of  the  memorial  or  panegyrical  occasion,  but 
that  which  as  its  main  purpose  should  convey  in- 
struction with  a  view  to  ethical  and  religious  culture 
and  activity,  was  wanted  before  the  trained  gift  of 
eloquence  could  find  its  noblest  content  and  its  best 
use.  We  are  now  to  see  how  this  lack  was  supplied. 
When  Roman  imperialism  had  conspired  with  other 
causes  to  ruin  deliberative  eloquence  and  depress  the 
other  two,  Christian  preaching  gradually  arose  to  devote 
oratory  to  a  new  service  and  fill  it  with  a  grander  mes- 
sage. But  before  we  reach  the  historical  confluence  of 
ancient  oratory  with  distinctively  Christian  eloquence  we 
must  trace  the  separate  line  of  development  along  which 
in  the  order  of  divine  Providence  gospel  preaching  arose. 

In  the  ancient  Hebrew  prophecy  we  have  exactly  the 


INTRODUCTION  19 

counterpart,  in  respect  of  moral  and  religious  content  and 
aim,  to  the  Graeco-Roman  oratory.  Of  distinctively  poli- 
tical, judicial,  or  declamatory  speaking  the  Israelites  prob- 
ably had  little  or  none,  but  their  prophets  were  an  order  of 
orators  charged  with  divine  messages  and  devoted  to  the 
moral  and  spiritual  culture  of  the  people.  We  must 
beware  of  thinking  exclusively  of  the  predictive  element 
in  the  work  of  Israel's  prophets.1  "  It  was  by  no  means 
the  main  business  of  the  prophets  to  predict  the  future, 
as  people  are  now  apt  to  suppose  from  our  modern  use 
of  the  word  prophet,  but  they  spoke  of  the  past  and  the 
present,  often  much  more  than  of  the  future.  The  pro- 
phets reminded  the  people  of  their  sins,  exhorted  them 
to  repent,  and  instructed  them  in  religious  and  moral, 
in  social  and  personal  duties;  and  when  they  predicted 
the  future  it  was  almost  always  in  the  way  of  warning  or 
encouragement,  as  a  motive  to  forsake  their  sins  and 

serve  God The  prophets  were  preachers." 

These  words  of  Dr.  Broadus  state  the  case  clearly  and 
well. 

In  the  earliest  ages  it  is  said  that  "  Enoch  also,  the 
seventh  from  Adaim,  prophesied."2  And  Noah  is  called 
"  a  preacher  of  righteousness."3  Thus  accepted  Hebrew 
tradition  recognized  the  beginnings  of  distinctively 
religious  oratory  in  the  most  remote  patriarchal  times. 
The  blessings  of  Isaac*  and  of  Jacob5  are  examples  of 
formal  and  solemn  religious  address  in  the  poetical  style. 
The  book  of  Deuteronomy  is  a  series  of  addresses  repeat- 
ing and  expanding  and  enforcing  in  this  form  much  of  the 
legislation  of  Moses.  Later  as  a  sort  of  supplement  we 
have  the  two  farewell  discourses  of  Joshua,6  filled  with 
earnest  and  wholesome  counsel  and  appeal.7 

From  the  time  of  Samuel  (B.C.  1050)  to  that  of 
Jeremiah  (B.C  629),  was  the  great  prophetic  period  in 
Israel's  history.  Within  this  time  appeared  Samuel, 
Nathan,  Gad,  Azariah,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Joel,  Micah, 

1  See  Broadus,  History  of  Preaching,  pp.  10-18. 

2  Jude  14.  8  2  Peter  2:5.  *  Gen.  27 :  27-29. 

6  Gen.  49 :  3-27.        *  Josh,  chaps.  23  and  24. 

7  The  poetical  prophecies  of  the  singularly  gifted  Oriental  seer 
Balaam,  and  the  lofty  discourses  in  the  drama  of  Job  are  beside 
the  direct  line  of  Hebrew  prophecy  in  the  proper  sense. 


20  INTRODUCTION 

Micaiah,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  others.1  These  men  of 
God  came  to  people  and  kings  with  their  certified  divine 
messages,  often  introducing  their  great  addresses  with 
the  formula,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  They  pleaded, 
warned,  rebuked,  encouraged;  they  crushed  with  sov- 
ereign threatenings  and  judgments;  they  built  up  with 
glowing  divine  promises  of  unspeakable  and  enduring 
glory  to  come.  By  no  means  are  all  the  incidents  of  their 
careers  related,  nor  is  more  than  a  fraction  of  their  ad- 
dresses preserved,  but  judging  from  what  is  known  of 
their  lives  and  works  we  surely  gather  vivid  impressions 
of  the  greatness  of  their  characters,  the  strength  of  their 
influence,  and  the  lasting  value  of  their  discourses. 

The  last  period  of  Hebrew  prophecy  extended  from 
Ezekiel  and  Daniel  to  Malachi,  from  the  exile  to  the 
restoration  and  later.  In  this  period  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tional life  the  character  and  influence  of  prophecy  did  not 
materially  change.  It  was  still  the  voice  of  God  through 
chosen  men  to  his  chosen  people.  In  form  and  content  it 
still  ministered  to  the  religious  life  and  aims  of  the  people, 
both  by  preaching  to  the  present  and  pointing  to  the 
future.  But  for  long  years  the  voice  of  prophecy  was 
mute,  awaiting  the  coming  of  the  Promised  One,  the 
dawn  of  a  new  era. 

During  this  period  the  worship  of  the  Jews  had  a  very 
important  development,  and  one  specially  significant  in 
the  history  of  preaching.  This  was  the  hortatory  exposi- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Writings  in  connection  with  the  ser- 
vices of  the  synagogue.  While  the  actual  origin  of  the 
synagogue  has  not  been  definitely  fixed,  the  growth  of 
the  institution  into  an  established  feature  of  Jewish 
religious  life  occurs  during  the  time  now  under  review. 
In  the  eighth  chapter  of  Nehemiah  there  is  record  of  the 
great  occasion,  soon  after  the  return  from  the  exile,  when 
"  Ezra  the  scribe  stood  upon  a  pulpit  of  wood,  which  they 
had  made  for  the  purpose,"  and  others  assisted  him,  and 

1  For  a  good  treatment  of  the  homiletical  value  of  the  preach- 
ing of  the  prophets  see  Stalker's  The  Preacher  and  His  Models. 
The  matter  finds  instructive  comment  in  Ker's  Lectures  on  the 
History  of  Preaching,  and  in  James'  Message  and  the  Messengers. 
For  a  discussion  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  modern  critical 
school  see  George  Adam  Smith's  Modern  Criticism  and  the 
Preaching  of  the  Old  Testament. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

"  they  read  in  the  book  in  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and 
gave  the  sense,  and  caused  [the  people]  to  understand 
the  reading."  Philo1  gives  testimony  to  the  effect  that  at 
the  time  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity  the  services  of 
the  synagogue,  "  consisted  chiefly  of  oral  instruction  and 
of  free  extended  speaking."  We  find  both  our  Lord  and 
the  Apostles  availing  themselves  of  this  custom  to  pro- 
claim the  gospel.  Thus  we  see  that  there  was  a  clearly 
defined  basis  for  Christian  preaching  in  the  sacred  speech 
of  that  people  from  whom  in  the  divine  ordering  of  events 
Christianity  sprang.  And  so  in  the  widely  separated 
lines  of  development  which  the  sacred  and  the  secular 
oratory  of  the  ancient  world  pursued  before  the  coming  of 
our  Lord,  God  was  laying  the  foundation  for  the  use  of 
public  speech  as  a  means  in  the  spread  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity.  Prophecy  was  preparation  only. 
The  proclaiming  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God  was 
the  actual  initial  step  in  the  historic  progress  of  Christian 
preaching.  In  this  proclamation  there  are  three  distinct 
but  successive,  and  therefore  not  wholly  separate  stages, 
namely,  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  of  our  Lord 
himself,  and  of  the  Apostles  and  their  fellow-workers. 

John  was  the  connecting  link  between  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  the  New,  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  prophets, 
the  first  preacher  of  the  new  dispensation.  The  char- 
acter of  the  man  was  marked  by  great  originality  (though 
he  was  much  like  Elijah)  and  power.  He  was  brusque, 
bold,  candid,  ready;  but  modest,  devoted  and  faithful. 
The  great  fact  that  he  announced  was  the  immediate  com- 
ing of  the  promised  reign  of  God,  "  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  at  hand."  The  promised  Messiah  was  now 
about  to  arrive,  and  he  himself  was  but  a  voice  preparing 
the  way  of  the  Lord.  In  the  greater  work  and  glory 
of  the  Coming  One  he  must  be  lost  to  view.  Along  with 
announcing  this  fact  he  had  a  great  duty  to  enjoin,  that 
of  immediate  preparation  for  the  kingdom  by  a  sincere 

1  Quoted  by  Hoppin,  Homiletics,  p.  23.  On  the  relation  of 
synagogue  worship  to  preaching  see  Maybaum,  Jiidische  Homi- 
letik,  Einleitung.  This  writer,  however,  makes  the  mistake  of 
leaving  out  of  his  definition  of  preaching  the  prophetic  element 
and  confining  it  to  the  exposition  of  Scripture.  Something  also 
may  be  found  on  the  subject  in  Scherer's  (Eng.  trans.)  Jewish 
People  in  the  Time  of  Christ,  Vol.  II.,  p.  54. 


22  INTRODUCTION 

and  fruitful  repentance.  This  he  enforced  by  many  an 
apt  illustration  and  example,  many  a  strong  and  brave 
application.  His  work  was  fortified  and  his  message  of 
repentance  strikingly  symbolized  in  the  rite  of  baptism 
from  which  he  gets  his  name.1  It  had  not  been  uncom- 
mon for  the  older  prophets  to  employ  external  things  as 
signs,  tokens,  illustrations  of  their  messages.  John  does 
not  seem  to  have  used  the  synagogues,  but  to  have 
preached  altogether  to  the  crowds  in  the  open  air.  In 
both  character  and  work  he  has  received  the  highest  pos- 
sible endorsement  in  the  encomium  of  his  Lord,  "  Among 
them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath  not  arisen  a 
greater  than  John  the  Baptist." 

In  the  work  of  Jesus  himself,  however,  lies  the  main 
foundation  of  Christian  preaching  for  all  time.2  It  is 
not  within  the  plan  of  this  volume  to  give  a  thorough 
study  of  our  Lord  as  a  preacher.  The  theme  demands  a 
book  to  itself.3  The  purpose  here  is  merely  to  indicate  the 
salient  features  of  Christ's  preaching  as  the  basis  of  sub- 
sequent historic  development. 

In  comparing  our  Lord's  preaching  with  that  of  John 
we  notice  that  its  burden  was  the  same,  but  with  a  dif- 
ference. Matthew  tells  us,4  "  From  that  time  Jesus  began 
to  preach,  and  to  say,  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand."  But  as  we  go  on  to  study  the  contents  of  his 
teaching  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  his  ministry 
we  observe  more  and  more  that  the  burden  of  his  message 
is  himself.  He  proclaims  himself  as  the  fulfillment  of 
prophecy,  as  the  Son,  and  therefore,  the  revealer  of  God, 
and  cautiously  at  first,  but  with  increasing  distinctness, 
as  the  king  of  a  spiritual  realm,  and  finally  throughout 
his  ministry  as  the  Saviour  and  Deliverer  of  men,  the 
Way  to  God,  the  Good  Shepherd  who  giveth  his  life  for 

1Cf.  Broadus,  History  of  Preaching,  pp.  19-21. 

2  For  the  preaching  of  our  Lord  see  Broadus,  op.  cit.,  pp.  22- 
36,  also  his  Lectures  on  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  p.  43  ff. ;  Pattison's 
History  of  Christian  Preaching,  p.  14  ff;  Stalker's  Imago  Christi, 
chaps.  XII.-XV. ;  Armitage's  Lectures  on  Preaching,  Lects.  I.,  II. 
Of  course  the  subject  is  touched  in  most  of  the  numerous  works 
on  the  Life  of  Christ. 

8  Such  a  book  has  recently  appeared  in  the  Jesus  und  seine  Pre- 
digt  of  Erich  von  Schrenck.  But  his  treatment  is  rather  exegetical 
and  theological  than  homiletical.  *  Matt.  4 : 17. 


INTRODUCTION  23 

the  sheep,  the  Redeemer  who  would  give  his  life  as  a 
ransom  for  many.  He  is  his  own  gospel. 

Accordingly  the  duty  which  he  enjoins  is  not  distinc- 
tively repentance  (though  this  is  understood)  as  prepara- 
tion for  a  coming  Lord,  but  rather  faith  in  the  Lord  who 
has  now  come.  He  offers  himself  and  his  work  to  the 
acceptance  of  his  hearers.  He  is  the  revelation  and  em- 
bodiment of  God's  gracious  ways  with  men,  and  as  such 
he  is  to  be  received  and  trusted.  His  message  is,  "  Come 
unto  me  ....  and  I  will  give  you  rest."1  .... 
"  Believe  in  God,  and  believe  in  me."2  .  .  .  .  "  He  that 
believeth  on  me  hath  everlasting  life."3 

The  occasions  and  audiences  of  his  preaching  varied 
greatly.  He  sometimes  conversed  with  individuals,  an- 
nouncing the  great  truths  and  distinctive  principles  of  his 
gospel.  Sometimes  he  talked  with  small  groups,  and 
sometimes  he  preached  to  great  multitudes.  Now  we 
see  him  in  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day  using  the 
opportunity  of  worship  for  the  proclamation  of  his  mes- 
sage, and  again  we  find  him  by  sea  or  on  mountain  declar- 
ing the  principles  of  his  kingdom  to  those  whom  his 
teaching  or  his  miracles  had  attracted. 

The  character  of  his  preaching  was  a  wonderful  union 
of  power  and  of  charm.  Its  dominant  note  was  authority, 
supreme  confidence  in  God,  in  himself,  in  his  mission  and 
message.  He  ranged  from  scathing  invective  to  tender 
invitation;  he  employed  argument,  aphoristic  saying, 
parable,  exposition  of  Scripture,  with  wonderful  skill 
and  effect ;  he  mingled  with  all  a  yearning  for  men's  good 
and  God's  honor  which  abides  the  ideal  motive  for  all 
worthy  preaching. 

During  his  ministry  our  Lord  twice4  sent  out  bands  of 
his  disciples,  two  and  two,  to  proclaim  his  kingdom.  He 
gave  them  both  their  message  and  practical  instructions 
for  their  guidance.  It  is  not  impossible  that  he  did  more 
of  this  work  than  these  two  recorded  instances.  After  the 
Ascension  we  find  the  Apostles  and  others  waiting  at 
Jerusalem  for  the  promised  enduement  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  the  book  of  Acts  and  in  the  Epistles  we  have 
traces  of  the  Apostles'  preaching  after  Pentecost  had 

1  Matt.  II :  28.  *  John  14 : 1.  *  John  6 : 47 ;  et  sim. 

*  Matt.  chap.  10 ;  Luke  chap.  10. 


24  INTRODUCTION 

given  them  their  mission.  Adequate  treatment  of  this 
topic  also  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  treatise, 
but  as  the  transition  from  the  personal  ministry  of  Jesus 
to  the  later  history,  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  and 
their  colaborers  claims  at  least  a  brief  consideration.1 

The  apostolic  preaching  was  accompanied  by  more  im- 
mediate and  consciously  felt  manifestation  and  direction 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  than  was  the  case  with  later  preacb- 
ing.  Along  with  this  there  were  certain  supernatural  gifts 
which  seem  to  have  been  granted  for  the  attestation  of 
the  apostolic  ministry,  and  to  have  continued  with  declin- 
ing frequency  and  clearness  a  little  way  into  the  post- 
apostolic  age.  Such  were  the  gifts  of  tongues,  healings, 
miracles. 

The  content  of  the  preaching  was  fundamentally  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Lord,  with  only  the  important  differ- 
ence made  by  the  great  facts  of  his  crucifixion,  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension,  and  the  great  promise  of  his  second 
coming.  Christ  himself  was  still  the  central  and  dominant 
theme  of  the  gospel  message.  Both  repentance  and  faith, 
the  union  of  John's  burden  with  that  of  his  Master,  found 
due  emphasis  in  the  apostolic  preaching.  It  proclaims  a 
crucified,  risen,  reigning  and  coming  Saviour  and  Lord. 
It  is  universal  in  time,  having  touch  with  past,  present  and 
future;  in  extent,  reaching  out  to  all  men  of  every  race 
and  class  in  the  world ;  and  in  character,  holding  the  one 
remedy  for  all  sin,  the  one  way  of  reconciliation  with 
God,  the  one  path  to  eternal  life. 

In  regard  to  method  we  see  in  the  reported  discourses 
of  the  Acts,  and  inferentrally  in  the  style  and  contents  of 
the  Epistles,2  that  the  Apostles  were  greatly  influenced 
by  the  ancient  prophets  in  their  general  mode  of  address. 

1  Cf.  the  works  previously  mentioned  of  Broadus,  Pattison, 
Stalker  and  Armitage.  James  does  not  treat  the  matter  at  length. 
The  numerous  modern  works  on  the  church  of  the  apostolic  age 
pay  some  attention  to  the  preaching  of  the  times.  See,  for  ex- 
ample, Lightfoot's  notes  to  his  commentaries  on  Galatians  and 
Philippians;  Hort's  Ecclesia;  Lindsay's  Church  and  Ministry  in 
the  Early  Centuries;  Allen's  Christian  Institutions;  articles  in 
Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  and  many  others.  In  most  works  of 
this  nature  some  caution  is  requisite  in  the  reading,  because  of 
the  tendency  toward  the  over-use  of  inference  and  conjecture, 
from  confessedly  scanty  materials,  to  establish  critical  or  eccle- 
siastical theories.  8  Cf.  Broadus,  History  of  Preaching,  p.  36  ff . 


INTRODUCTION  25 

Unless  Paul's  discourse  at  Athens1  be  an  exception,  we 
can  detect  little  if  any  trace  of  influence  from  the  ancient 
classical  oratory.  The  two  permanent  elements  of 
Christian  preaching  appear:  evangelism  and  instruction. 
There  is  free  speaking  to  men  anywhere  and  everywhere 
in  announcement  of  the  gospel  and  in  urgency  of  its 
claims,  and  there  is  orderly  and  authorized  public  instruc- 
tion and  edification  of  believers  in  their  assemblies  for 
worship,  based  upon  the  ancient  Scriptures  and  the  gospel 
tradition  now  becoming  Scripture.  For  these  ends  there 
are  apostles  and  prophets,  elders,  pastors  and  teachers, 
and  evangelists.  Thus  in  all  essential  respects  we  find  in 
the  apostolic  preaching  the  regulative  basis  for  Christian 
preaching  in  all  times.  The  preaching  of  John  was 
transitional,  that  of  Jesus  was  unique,  that  of  the  Apostles 
and  their  fellow  workers  is  our  abiding  model. 

We  are  ready  now  to  begin  to  trace  the  history  of 
preaching  from  its  origins.  In  the  ancient  classical  ora- 
tory we  have  the  artistic  and  effective  use  of  language,  as 
an  instrument  for  the  proclamation  and  enforcement  of 
truth,  brought  to  its  highest  degree  of  power.  In  the 
fervid  moral  and  religious  addresses  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophets  we  see  exemplified  the  best  possible  em- 
ployment to  which  oratory  can  be  put.  In  the  Christian 
gospel  as  proclaimed  by  Jesus  and  his  appointed  spokes- 
men we  perceive  the  greatest  and  best  content  with  which 
oratory  can  be  charged  for  all  time.  On  these  historic 
foundations  the  fabric  of  preaching  has  been  reared 
through  the  Christian  centuries.  We  must  give  attention 
to  its  outlines. 

4.  OUTLINE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

History  cannot  be  forced  into  arbitrary  divisions,  for  at 
the  borders  there  is  always  overlapping.  The  history  of 
any  age  is  dependent  upon  the  preceding,  and  contribu- 
tory to  the  subsequent  ages;  the  history  of  any  people 
touches  that  of  other  peoples ;  and  the  history  of  any  sub- 
ject is  related  to  that  of  kindred  subjects.  Yet  there 
is  manifest  propriety,  not  to  say  necessity,  in  having  divi- 
sions of  all  the  sorts  indicated.  Also  the  marking  of 
*Acts  17:22-31. 


26  INTRODUCTION 

periods  in  the  history  of  any  people  or  subject  is  at  once  a 
convenience  of  study  and  a  requirement  of  the  subject- 
matter;  but  we  must  always  remember  that  these  bound- 
aries are  only  approximate,  never  exact.  It  is  true  that  in 
the  course  of  events  there  are  different  facts  and  phases 
of  life  to  be  dealt  with,  and  certain  decisive  occurrences  or 
strongly  marked  changes  emphasize  their  dates  as  turn- 
ing points.  But  while  some  dates  are  practically  accepted 
by  all  historians  as  suitable  turning  points,  it  is  evident 
that  particular  considerations  of  people,  place,  subject, 
and  the  like,  give  rise  to  unavoidable  differences  in  locat- 
ing the  exact  time  for  recording  the  change  or  event. 
Thus  while  the  division  of  general  history  into  ancient, 
mediaeval  and'ntodern  is  generally  accepted,  the  particular 
dates  of  the  transitions  are  by  no  means  unanimously 
agreed  upon;  and  for  particular  countries  and  subjects 
there  must  of  necessity  be  different  periods.  The  epochs 
of  English  history,  for  example,  do  not  coincide  with 
those  of  German  or  French  history,  nor  the  dates  of  the 
history  of  philosophy  with  those  of  the  history  of  art,  of 
literature,  or  of  preaching ;  though  at  some  points  there  is 
interesting  connection  because  of  some  general  event  or 
mode  of  thought  influencing  all,  or  because  of  special 
relations  at  various  times.  Again,  the  assignment  of 
periods  must  be  largely  the  prerogative  of  each  historian, 
according  to  his  conception  of  his  subject-matter,  or  his 
practical  aim  in  writing,  or  other  subjective  considera- 
tions. In  surveying  the  history  of  preaching  as  a  whole 
we  shall  find  that  its  course  corresponds,  as  we  should 
naturally  expect,  in  marked  degree  with  that  of  both 
general  and  ecclesiastical  history;  we  shall  note  longer 
and  shorter  seasons  of  varying  character,  prosperity  and 
power;  and  we  shall  be  able  to  assign  with  at  least  ap- 
proximate accuracy  the  dates  which  may  be  best  assumed 
as  turning  points. 

After  the  death  of  the  Apostles  and  their  fellow 
workers  there  is  a  time  of  decline,  until  gradually  preach- 
ing rises  in  power  to  its  ancient  culmination  in  the  fourth 
and  early  fifth  century.  Then  it  falls  into  a  long  night  of 
obscurity  and  weakness,  till  with  the  preaching  of  the 
Crusades  and  the  rise  of  Scholasticism  it  begins  to  revive, 
and  reaches  the  height  of  its  mediaeval  power  in  the  thir- 


INTRODUCTION  2J 

teenth  century.  Then  again  there  is  a  general  and  fear- 
ful falling  off  in  purity  and  power ;  but  the  Reformation 
comes  as  another  high  wave  gathering  force  slowly  to  its 
crest  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  After 
that,  the  unity  of  Christendom  being  forever  broken,  and 
other  things  cooperating,  the  modern  period  exhibits  so 
great  diversities  in  the  character  of  preaching  in  dif- 
ferent lands  that  it  is  not  so  easy  to  describe  preaching  in 
general  terms.  For  while  it  flourishes  in  one  country, 
it  is  often  depressed  in  another,  and  while  exhibiting  one 
character  in  one  sect  or  people,  it  may  have  another  in 
others.  Thus  during  the  ascendency  of  Puritan  doctrinal 
preaching  in  England  there  was  the  culmination  of  Cath- 
olic oratorical  preaching  in  France;  and  the  progress  of 
the  Wesleyan  revival  in  England  was  contemporary  with 
the  dry-rot  of  rationalism  in  Germany.  Yet  in  a  general 
way,  allowing  for  exceptions  of  all  sorts,  it  is  not  inac- 
curate to  describe  the  period  next  after  the  Reformation 
as  one  of  decline,  wherein  doctrinal  controversies  too 
much  occupied  the  pulpit;  and  while  this  was  especially 
true  of  Germany  it  also  found  illustration  elsewhere.  The 
later  modern  period,  chiefly  in  the  nineteenth  century,  is 
undoubtedly  the  greatest  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
pulpit,  leaving  out,  of  course,  the  originating  period 
which  is  not  included  in  our  scheme,  and  for  many 
reasons  is  unique  and  not  to  be  compared  with  any  sub- 
sequent one.  Both  the  revival  and  the  missionary  im- 
pulses which  have  characterized  this  last  period  entitle 
it  preeminently  to  be  called  the  evangelical  age.  Its 
close  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  only 
for  convenience,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  even  if  we 
contemporaries  seem  to  recognize  the  beginnings  of  a  new 
epoch  in  preaching  about  this  time,  we  cannoj  foresee  its 
general  character  and  course  with  sufficient  distinctness 
to  give  it  limits  and  a  name.  But  waiving  the  matter  of 
dates  and  boundaries  as  impossible,  and  looking  only  at 
the  great  tendencies  in  the  religious  life  of  our  times,  we 
should  not  perhaps  guess  very  far  amiss  if  we  predict  that 
later  historians  may  have  to  describe  the  period  of  preach- 
ing on  which  we  have  just  entered  as  the  humanitarian  or 
social  age. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  explanations  made,  we  may  assume 


28  INTRODUCTION 

six  fairly  well  defined  periods  for  the  general  history  of 
preaching,  as  follows : 

Period  I.  A.D.  70-430. — The  Ancient,  or  Patristic, 
Age.  From  the  times  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  to  the 
close  of  the  labors  of  Chrysostom  (d.  407)  and  of 
Augustine  (d.  430). 

Period  II.  430-1095. — The  Early  Mediaeval,  or  Dark, 
Age.  After  the  times  of  Chrysostom  and  Augustine  up  to 
the  preaching  of  the  first  Crusade,  by  Peter  the  Hermit 
and  Pope  Urban  II. 

Period  III.  1095-1361. — The  Central  Mediaeval,  or 
Scholastic,  Age.  From  the  times  of  Peter  the  Hermit  and 
Urban  II.  to  the  close  of  Tauler's  (d.  1361)  and  the 
beginning  of  Wiclif's  (ordained  1361)  ministry. 

Period  IV.  1361-1572. — The  Transitional,  or  Reforma- 
tory, Age.  From  the  times  of  Tauler  and  Wiclif  to  the 
death  of  John  Knox,  the  la'st  of  the  great  Reformers. 

Period  V.  1572-1738. — The  Early  Modern,  or  Dog- 
matic, Age.  After  the  times  of  the  great  Reformers  up 
to  the  beginning  of  the  English  revival  under  White- 
field  and  Wesley. 

Period  VI.  1738-1900. — The  later  Modern,  or  Evan- 
gelical, Age.  From  the  times  of  Whitefield  and  Wesley 
to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  the  present  volume  it  is  proposed  to  treat  of  only 
the  first  four  of  these  periods,  tracing  the  general  history 
of  preaching  down  to  the  close  of  the  work  of  the  great 
Reformers.  Of  these  Zwingli  died  in  1531,  Luther  in 
1546,  Calvin  in  1564,  and  Knox  in  1572.  While  the  work 
of  the  Reformation  went  on  in  its  effects  and  struggles 
beyond  this  time,  the  preaching  of  the  Reformation 
reached  its  culmination  in  these  men  and  their  con- 
temporaries. 


PERIOD  I 
THE  ANCIENT,  OR   PATRISTIC,  AGE 

A.D.   70-430 

From  the  times  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  to  the  death  of  Chrysostom 
(407)  and  of  Augustine  (430) 

CHAPTER   I. 
PREACHING  DURING  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

In  the  introduction  some  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
origin  of  preaching  in  the  work  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles.  We  begin  here  to  trace  its  development  and 
progress  from  this  beginning  on  through  the  ages  down 
to  the  close  of  the  work  of  the  great  Reformers  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  first  general  period  laid  out  for 
our  study  extends  from  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  A.D.  70 
to  the  death  of  the  great  theologian,  bishop  and  preacher, 
Augustine,  in  430.  In  this  chapter  only  so  much  of  that 
period  as  covers  the  first  three  centuries  will  be  brought 
under  review. 

i.    GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  FIRST  THREE  CENTURIES. 

The  fall  of  Jerusalem  in  A.D.  70  marks  the  end  of  the 
Jewish  commonwealth,  and  is  in  many  ways  a  significant 
and  impressive  event  in  general  and  church  history.  It 
also  has  a  particular  bearing  on  the  history  of  preaching, 
and  in  time  nearly  coincides  with  the  death  of  the  apostles 
Peter  and  Paul,  who  probably  suffered  under  Nero  in  68. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  and  early  in  the  fourth  century 
Christianity  was  strong  enough  to  withstand  the  last 


30  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

furious  persecution  (under  Diocletian),  and  induce  Con- 
stantine  to  change  the  attitude  of  the  imperial  govern- 
ment from  contempt  and  opposition  to  tolerance  and 
patronage.  Within  these  centuries  there  were  many 
events  and  forces  which  had  great  influence  in  determin- 
ing the  character  and  shaping  the  future  of  Christianity 
as  an  institution,  and  likewise  profoundly  affected  the 
development  of  preaching.  And  so  for  a  proper  under- 
standing of  the  course  of  preaching  it  is  fitting  that  we 
first  give  at  least  a  hurried  glance  at  the  general  state  of 
the  Empire  and  of  Christianity  during  these  centuries. 

Titus,  the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem,  fell  heir  to  an 
empire  which,  extending  from  Rome  and  Italy  as  a 
centre,  reached  westward,  and  included  Spain  and 
Portugal ;  northwestward  it  took  in  France,  the  Nether- 
lands and  England ;  northward  it  held  the  German  debat- 
able territories  on  both  sides  of  the  Rhine ;  northeastward 
it  claimed  sovereignty  to  the  Danube,  and  sometimes 
beyond,  but  could  not  always  make  good  its  claims  in  this 
direction;  eastward  it  took  in  Dalmatia,  Thrace,  Greece, 
Asia  Minor,  and  Armenia;  southeastward  it  held  the 
ancient  lands  of  Egypt,  Syria,  Palestine,  and  far  in  to 
where  Parthian  and  Persian  disputed  its  eager  lust  of 
power  by  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris;  southward  it  em- 
braced the  territories  of  its  ancient  rival  Carthage,  and  the 
provinces  of  Northern  Africa  stretching  westward  to  the 
ocean,  where  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  the  circuit  is  com- 
pleted. 

The  varied  character  of  the  population  of  this  mighty 
empire  is,  of  course,  evident  at  a  glance,  nor  was  it  pos- 
sible for  even  so  powerful  a  government  as  that  of  Rome 
to  weld  these  varied  nations  into  a  homogeneous  people. 
Yet,  with  many  minute  variations,  the  Graeco-Roman 
type  of  civilization  was  generally  prevalent;  and  the  use 
of  both  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  was  widely  spread. 
In  the  East  the  extension  of  Greek  ideas  and  the  con- 
quest of  Alexander  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  pre- 
dominance and  perpetuation  of  the  Hellenic  elements  of 
the  dual  culture;  while  in  the  West  the  Latinizing  of 
North  Africa,  Spain  and  Gaul,  partly  begun  under  repub- 
lican and  early  achieved  under  imperial  rule,  emphasized 
the  Roman  elements.  The  Eastern  Empire  was  essen- 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,   AGE  31 

tially  Greek  with  infusion  of  Latin  and  Oriental  ingre- 
dients; the  Western  Empire  was  essentially  Roman  with 
infusion  of  Hellenic  and  barbarian  ingredients.  The 
failure  of  Rome  to  conquer  and  assimilate  the  Germanic 
peoples  as  it  had  done  the  Iberian  and  Keltic  races  left 
an  open  door  for  barbarian  conquest,  and  hastened,  soon 
after  the  permanent  division,  the  downfall  of  the  West- 
ern Empire.  The  surging  and  mingling  of  races,  with 
all  accompanying  forces  of  discord  and  corruption,  were 
fairly  under  way  in  Vespasian's  time,  and  went  on  with 
marked  results  throughout  our  period. 

Building  on  the  foundations  of  the  older  Roman  rule, 
the  wonderful  political  genius  of  Caesar  and  of  Augustus 
had  constructed  a  fabric  which  stood  the  shock  of  the 
tyrannies  and  crimes  of  their  degenerate  followers  till 
Vespasian  retrieved  the  fallen  glories  of  imperial  rule, 
and  his  successors — except  Domitian,  and  until  Corn- 
modus — governed  with  great  ability.  Confusion  followed, 
but  Diocletian  at  the  end  of  the  third  century  again  made 
imperial  rule  strong  and  respected.  But  we  should  go  far 
astray  if  we  regarded  the  imperial  court  and  headquarters 
alone  in  our  study  of  Roman  government.  The  provinces 
and  cities  of  the  empire  were  also  fields  for  the  display 
of  that  marvellous  administrative  faculty  which  dis- 
tinguished the  Roman  people.  It  was  their  settled  policy 
not  to  interfere  with  local  and  popular  institutions  any 
further  than  was  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  their 
military  supremacy  and  the  management  of  the  imperial 
revenues.  But  these  items  necessarily  involved  the  enact- 
ment of  many  laws  and  the  general  administration  of 
justice.  And  thus  in  various  ways,  throughout  this 
vast  extent  of  lands  and  among  peoples  so  diverse,  the 
complicated  system  of  Roman  government  held  for  ages 
its  mighty  sway  over  the  most  active  and  progressive 
races  of  mankind. 

The  imperial  succession,  and  the  characters  and  doings 
of  the  emperors  during  this  period  were  all  forces  of 
importance  in  shaping  events.  The  confusion  after  the 
wicked  and  tyrannical  Nero  was  ended  by  the  accession 
of  the  able  general  and  ruler  Vespasian,  whose  son  Titus, 
the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem,  followed  in  a  short  though 
promising  reign,  to  be  himself  followed  for  fifteen  years 


32  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

by  the  mad  tyrant  Domitian.  Then  followed  the  "  five 
good  emperors  " — Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  Antoninus 
Pius,  Marcus  Aurelius — whose  mostly  beneficent  reigns 
filled  out  not  quite  a  century  (96-180).  After  the  good 
emperors  came,  through  a  little  more  than  a  century 
(180306),  a  long  succession  of  short  reigns.  From  Corn- 
modus  to  Constantine  were  more  than  thirty  emperors. 
Many  of  them  were  bad,  some  unfortunate,  a  few  were 
able  rulers.  Diocletian  associated  others  with  himself, 
divided  the  empire,  and  thus  paved  the  way  for  discord 
and  civil  wars.  Meantime  we  are  more  concerned  with 
the  rise  and  growth  of  another  power  destined  to  play 
even  a  greater  part  than  Rome  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  and  that  is  Christianity. 

Already  in  Paul's  lifetime  that  apostle  could  write1 
of  the  gospel  as  being  "  in  all  the  world  bearing  fruit  and 
increasing ; "  his  own  extensive  labors  are  familiarly 
known,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  even  at  the 
commencement  of  our  period  the  gospel  had  at  least  been 
made  known  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Soon  it  had 
reached  even  beyond  those  bounds,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
time  we  have  in  view  it  had  adherents  in  all  the  world. 
"  From  Britain  to  India  the  name  of  Christ  was  hon- 
ored." 2  How  numerous  these  adherents  were  at  any 
given  time  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  say.  They  were 
certainly  a  minority  of  the  population,  but  yet  a  very 
strong  minority,  even  at  the  time  of  Diocletian's  perse- 
cution. 

As  Christianity  was  not  a  legalized  religion  till  Con- 
stantine, the  imperial  policy  before  that  time  wavered 
between  toleration  and  persecution,  and  this  lack  of  a 
settled  attitude  is  illustrated  among  both  the  bad  and 
the  good  emperors.  Thus  Nero,  Domitian  and  Maximin 
were  persecutors,  but  so  were  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Dio- 
cletian. Trajan  and  Hadrian  were  tolerant,  but  so  was 
Caracalla.  It  was  largely  as  popular  feeling  or  the 
whim  of  the  emperor  pleased. 

Not  only  in  the  outward  relations  of  Christianity,  but 
also  in  its  inner  development  there  were  noteworthy 
events  and  forces.  The  simple  polity  and  worship  of  the 

'Col.  i:  5,  6. 

8  A.  H.  Newman,  Manual  of  Church  History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  291. 


THE  ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  33 

apostolic  churches  soon  began  to  develop  toward  a  more 
complicated  organization  and  a  more  elaborate  ritual. 
The  pastors  came  to  be  distinguished  as  bishops  and 
presbyters,  and  the  deacons  were  made  an  order  of  min- 
istry. A  powerful  stimulus  was  given  toward  the  develop- 
ments of  later  times.  Centering  about  the  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  commemorating  sacred  seasons, 
worship  became  at  once  enriched  and  corrupted  by  cere- 
monial accretions,  and  grew  into  an  imposing  ritual. 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  the  first  three  centuries  of 
Christianity  is  more  notable  than  the  defence  and  gradual 
formulation  of  Christian  doctrine.  Already  in  apostolic 
times  the  Gnostic  heresies  were  beginning  to  appear. 
Others  followed,  and  the  teachings  of  the  gospel  had  to 
be  guarded  from  corrupt  forms  of  professedly  Chris- 
tian faith.  Opposition  from  without  called  forth  the 
Apologists  with  their  statements,  and  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  study  and  speculation  developed  the  theologians 
of  various  schools. 

2.     PARTICULAR   RELATION   OF   SOME   EVENTS   TO 
PREACHING. 

We  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  observe  that  preach- 
ing, like  all  other  special  institutions,  is  responsive  to 
general  influences ;  and  so  it  shared,  more  or  less  directly, 
in  the  whole  character  and  movement  of  the  age  as 
briefly  outlined  in  the  preceding  section.  But  besides 
this  general  influence  of  the  times  there  are  several  mat- 
ters of  great  importance  which  had  a  more  particular 
influence  in  shaping  the  development  and  character  of 
preaching.  These  were,  the  dispersion  and  final  over- 
throw of  the  Jews  as  a  nation,  the  great  extension  of  the 
Roman  empire,  and  the  imperial  persecutions  of  the 
Christians. 

From  the  time  of  the  Captivity  under  the  Assyrian 
and  Babylonian  kings  the  Israelites  had  begun  to  be  scat- 
tered among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  this  movement 
was  accelerated  during  the  time  we  are  now  studying 
by  the  great  events  which  then  occurred.  Already  during 
the  labors  of  the  Apostles  there  were  Jewish  communities 
and  synagogues  in  the  chief  cities  which  they  visited; 


34  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

and  these  influenced  preaching  partly  by  the  opportunity 
they  offered  and  the  mode  they  suggested  for  the  procla- 
mation of  the  gospel,  and  partly  also  by  the  stimulus  of 
opposition  and  rejection  which  turned  the  Apostles  and 
early  preachers  more  and  more  to  the  Gentiles. 

In  A.  D.  70  the  long  and  dreadful  siege  of  Jerusalem 
by  the  Roman  armies  ended  in  the  capture  and  destruc- 
tion of  the  city.  The  horrors  of  that  awful  event  are 
equaled  in  impressiveness  only  by  its  momentous  lessons. 
Israel  had  failed  to  meet  the  splendid  opportunities  of  the 
divine  election.  It  now  passes  as  a  nation  from  the  his- 
toric page,  leaving  written  behind  it  the  warning  moral  of 
its  checkered  story.  The  overthrow  of  the  Holy  City  and 
the  destruction  of  the  Temple  published  in  tremendous 
tones  what  the  rejection  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus  had 
already  made  a  settled  thing,  namely,  the  end  of  the  Jew- 
ish and  the  inauguration  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
as  the  special  channel  of  God's  revelation  to  men.  The 
first  Christians  were  mostly  Jews.  After  the  overthrow 
of  Jerusalem  they  had  no  more  a  Jewish  commonwealth 
to  live  for — they  were  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  effect  of  this  change  of  view  in  their  religious  rela- 
tions had  its  effect  on  the  preaching  of  the  sub-apostolic 
age.  Prophecy  was  fulfilled,  and  a  new  and  impressive 
message  must  go  with  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  to 
all  the  world.  The  failure  of  all  attempts  to  re-establish 
the  Jewish  nation  only  marked  finality  upon  what  had 
been  so  impressively  taught  by  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

Let  it  be  noted  just  here  that  the  widest  extent  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  reached  in  this  age,  under  the  Em- 
peror Trajan  (A.  D.  98-117)  ;  but  both  before  and  after 
this  time  the  vast  and  varied  empire  under  one  strong 
government  was  a  mighty  force  in  the  progress  of  civil- 
ization, and  thus  lent  its  aid  to  the  development  of  Chris- 
tian preaching.  The  wide  extent  of  Roman  influence, 
the  great  roads  and  lines  of  communication,  the  preva- 
lence of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  were  all  factors 
of  no  small  importance  in  that  development. 

We  must  now  say  a  word  as  to  the  imperial  persecu- 
tions. Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  Chris- 
tianity was  an  unlawful  religion  in  the  Roman  Empire. 
As  such  it  was  the  object  of  popular  hatred,  and  received 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  35 

much  social  persecution.  Sometimes  also  the  govern- 
ment was  aroused  to  violent  action  against  the  Christians. 
These  imperial  persecutions  were  rather  spasmodic  in 
character,  but  some  of  them  were  very  severe  while  they 
lasted.  Some  were  local  and  some  more  extensive.  The 
worst  of  them  were  those  under  Marcus  Aurelius  (165), 
Decius  (250),  Valerian  (258),  and  Diocletian  (303). 
They  did  not  suppress  Christianity,  but  made  Christians 
more  earnest  and  determined.  This  deep  earnestness 
no  doubt  made  itself  felt  in  the  preaching  of  the  period. 
Another  way  in  which  the  persecutions  affected  preach- 
ing was  more  external.  They  hindered,  though  they 
could  not  prevent,  the  gathering  of  large  assemblies; 
and  they  interfered  with  and  retarded  the  building  of 
churches.  Thus  the  preaching  in  large  measure  lacked 
these  aids  to  oratorical  development,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  remained  rather  informal  and  personal  in  char- 
acter throughout  this  early,  epoch.  Other  causes  con- 
tributed to  this,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  persecutions 
had  something  to  do  with  it. 

3.     THE  INNER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING. 

More  important,  however,  for  us  is  the  inner  develop- 
ment of  preaching  during  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
It  is  an  obscure  period,  and  we  therefore  cannot  trace 
the  development  with  as  much  accuracy  and  clearness  as 
is  desirable;  but  there  are  not  wanting  some  valuable 
hints  and  data  whereby  a  tolerably  distinct  view  of  the 
preaching  of  the  age  may  be  presented.  That  there  was 
great  decline  in  the  power  of  preaching  after  the  death  of 
the  Apostles  and  on  to  the  times  of  Hippolytus,  Origen 
and  Cyprian  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  and  early  part 
of  the  third  century  seems  quite  certain.  For  about  a 
hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul  (say 
from  70-170)  the  traces  of  preaching  are  extremely 
scanty,  and  do  not  exhibit  any  great  degree  of  power.  The 
very  meagreness  of  our  information,  while  it  prevents  our 
forming  a  safe  judgment,  is  in  itself  an  indication  of 
weakness.  For  had  there  been  a  very  powerful  preach- 
ing in  this  era  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  it  would  not 
have  left  more  evidence  of  itself  both  in  tradition  and 


36  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

in  literature.  But  toward  the  end  of  the  second  century, 
with  the  work  of  Clement  and  Origen  at  Alexandria, 
and  of  Irenaeus  and  Hippolytus  in  the  West  there  is  clear 
evidence  of  increased  power  in  the  ministry  of  the  word. 
And  this  rise  of  strength  prepared  the  way  for  the  greater 
oratorical  triumphs  of  the  fourth  century.  But  taking  in 
the  whole  period  of  about  two  hundred  and  thirty  years 
from  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age  to  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century,  we  may  group  the  characteristics  of 
preaching  about  the  following  points :  ( i )  the  preacher 
and  his  audience,  (2)  the  contents  of  the  preaching,  (3) 
the  form  of  the  discourse,  and  (4)  the  preservation  of 
sermons. 

The  essential  personal  factors  in  all  speaking — the 
speaker  and  hearer — are  necessarily  to  be  considered  in 
preaching,  and  their  contribution  to  the  character  of  the 
discourse  must  be  duly  estimated.  Was  preaching  in  this 
early  time  confined  to  an  official  class,  or  was  it  regarded 
as  the  privilege  and  duty  of  every  believing  man?  It 
is  probable  that  the  regular  church  preaching,  the  exhor- 
tation or  teaching  addressed  to  the  congregations  of  be- 
lievers, was  at  first  quite  free,  and  was  done  by  those  who 
would  volunteer  for  the  service.  At  the  same  time  it 
appears  that  even  in  apostolic  times  there  was,  parallel 
with  this  freedom  and  voluntariness,  distinct  recognition 
of  "  teachers  "  1  and  of  "  evangelists  "  also,  in  addition 
to  the  "apostles"  and  the  "prophets,"  all  of  whom  were  in 
some  sense  especially  charged  with  the  duty  of  preaching. 
In  regard  to  heralding,  or  evangelistic  preaching,  this 
would  naturally  vary  from  the  conversational  appeal  and 
teaching,  addressed  to  one  or  a  few,  up  to  the  more  ex- 
tended and  formal  discourse  addressed  to  a  crowd  or  to 
some  orderly  assemblage.  All  this,  no  doubt,  was  guided 
by  circumstances — in  the  nature  of  things  preaching 
cannot  be  reduced  to  one  type  at  any  time.  But  it  was 
natural  that  along  with  the  developments  in  church  or- 
ganization, and  the  tendency  toward  increasing  officialism 
therein  displayed,  there  should  also  be  a  growing  ten- 
dency to  confine  the  work  of  preaching  to  an  official  class 
of  duly  authorized  men.  It  appears  2  that  very  soon  after 

*i  Cor.  12:28  and  Eph.  4:11,  12. 

"Paniel's  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Beredsamkeit,  S.  73  ff.  J 
Rothe's  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  S.  8. 


THE  ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  37 

apostolic  times  preaching  in  the  Christian  assemblies  was 
confined  to  the  presbyters  and  bishops.  Evangelistic 
preaching  (which  was  more  informal),  and  personal  deal- 
ing with  individuals  (or  smaller  groups  than  assemblies) 
were  not  sharply  distinguished  and  were  recognized  as 
the  duty  of  all ;  but  the  exigencies  of  orderly  worship 
and  correct  teaching  required  the  appointment  and  quali- 
fication of  a  special  class.  How  far  apostolic  initiative 
and  sanction  were  followed  in  this  matter  does  not  clearly 
appear,  but  the  qualifications  required  of  the  bishops  in 
the  third  chapter  of  First  Timothy,  as  well  as  sotne  other 
indications,  show  that  apostolic  authority  was  not  wholly 
lacking.  The  Didache x  mentions  travelling  "  apostles  " 
and  "  prophets,"  as  well  as  settled  "  teachers,"  who  must 
be  supported ;  and  also  notices  that  the  "  teachers  "  at 
least  were  elected  by  the  churches. 

In  the  latter  part  of  our  period  it  is  clear  that  the 
regular  church  preaching  has  now  come  to  be  generally 
recognized  as  the  duty  of  a  special  class.  Others  than 
presbyters  could  not  formally  preach  in  the  churches 
without  especial  permission  of  the  bishop,  and  it  seems 
that  the  privilege  was  not  granted  to  the  presbyters  them- 
selves when  a  bishop  was  present  without  the  request  or 
sanction  of  the  higher  officer.  The  case  of  Origen, 
though  peculiar,  illustrates  the  point;  at  first  he  was 
permitted  and  encouraged  to  expound  the  Scriptures  at 
Alexandria,  but  on  his  being  ordained  a  presbyter  at 
Caesarea  in  later  years  his  bishop,  Demetrius  of  Alexan- 
dria, urgently  objected.2  In  the  less  formal  evangelistic 
preaching  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  rigid 
custom  or  rule.  For  Justin  Martyr  was  never  ordained  a 
presbyter,  but  he  doubtless  preached  much. 

In  regard  to  the  details  of  posture  and  delivery  the 
preacher  usually  sat,  and  spoke  freely.3  Eusebius 4 
quotes  Irenaeus  as  saying  that  he  remembered  "  the  very 
place  where  the  blessed  Polycarp  was  accustomed  to  sit 

1  See  chaps,  n,  12,  13,  15.     For  travelling  preachers  of  a  later 
time  see  Eusebius,  H.  E.,  III.,  27.    Cf.  Lindsay,  The  Church  and 
Ministry  of  the  Early  Centuries,  chap.  III. 

2  Euseb.,  H.  E.,  VI.,  8,  23. 

3 This  was  in  accord  with  Hebrew  custom  (Matt.  5:1;  Luke 
4:20),  but  the  Greek  orators  stood.  'H.  E.,  V.,  20. 


38  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  discourse."  But  while  the  extemporaneous  delivery 
was  the  rule  there  is  indication  in  at  least  one  striking 
relic  of  the  early  times — the  Ancient  Homily — that  the 
preacher  sometimes  read  his  discourse  to  the  worshipping 
assembly.  Broadus  remarks,1  "  The  apostolical  Epistles 
w^re  not  in  general  expected  to  be  read  by  all  or  by  many 
of  those  to  whom  they  were  sent,  but  were  written  ad- 
dresses designed  to  be  read  2  out  in  meeting  and  listened 
to."  Early  Christian  teachers,  as  Clement,  Irenaeus  and 
others,  followed  the  apostolic  custom  and  wrote  letters  to 
be  read  to  the  churches.  From  this  there  was  a  possible 
transition  to  the  reading  of  the  address  by  the  author 
himself,  and  this  quite  certainly  was  done  by  the  writer 
of  the  ancient  homily  known  as  the  Second  Epistle  of 
Clement,  though  erroneously  assigned  to  him.  If  this  was 
done  in  one  instance,  why  not  in  others?  Still  all  we  can 
say  is  that  such  cases  of  written  and  read  discourses  must 
have  been  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  of  the  freely 
spoken  address. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  in  general  terms,  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  character  of  the  audiences 
to  which  the  preaching  of  the  early  centuries  was  ad- 
dressed. The  audiences  were  of  course  greatly  varied 
according  to  times,  places  and  circumstances.  The 
two  general  classes  of  believers  and  unbelievers  among 
the  hearers  must  be  recognized;  but  we  have  to  con- 
sider whether  any  given  audience  was  composed  ex- 
clusively or  predominantly  of  one  class  or  the  other,  of 
whether  the  two  classes  were  pretty  evenly  divided. 
These  conditions  have  always  characterized  the  hearing 
of  Christian  preaching,  and  they  are  too  general  to  be  of 
any  special  significance  in  the  age  which  we  are  now 
studying,  further  than  to  occasion  the  remark  that  this 
twofold  or  threefold  character  of  the  audiences  must 
already  be  dealt  with,  even  in  the  beginnings  of  the  his- 
tory of  preaching.  Unbelievers  were  reached  mainly  by 
personal  interviews,  but  there  must  have  been  some 
preaching  to  groups  or  crowds.  In  the  apostolic  times, 
as  we  know  from  the  book  of  Acts,  frequent  use  was 
made  of  the  Jewish  synagogues  for  proclaiming  the 
gospel  to  the  unbelieving  Jews,  and  also  to  the  Gentiles 
1  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  36.  a  Rev.  i :  3. 


who  might  be  in  attendance.  After  that  time,  however, 
there  must  have  been  some  falling  off  in  this  custom,  as 
the  antagonism  of  the  Jews  was  intensified,  and  as  Chris- 
tianity became  more  and  more  Gentile  in  its  personnel. 
Further,  as  the  number  of  Christians  grew,  notwithstand- 
ing persecution,  there  would  be  increased  attendance 
upon  Christian  worship  by  unbelievers,  partly  as  led  by 
curiosity  and  interest,  and  partly  because  of  social,  do- 
mestic, or  other  relations  with  Christian  families.1  Thus 
in  various  ways  opportunity  would  be  given  and  em- 
ployed for  heralding  the  gospel  to  unbelievers. 

The  regular  customary  assemblies  for  Christian  wor- 
ship were,  however,  the  principal  audiences  for  preach- 
ing. All  through  this  period  teaching  and  exhortation 
appear  as  part  of  the  established  order  of  worship  in  the 
churches.  The  custom  came  from  the  synagogue,  and 
has  been  perpetuated  through  all  the  centuries.  In  the 
order  of  services,  as  was  natural,  the  preaching  usually 
followed  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  of  which  it  was 
commonly  a  sort  of  exposition  or  hortatory  application. 
We  must  also  bear  in  mind  the  mixed  character  of  the 
congregations  even  when  properly  called  Christian.  The 
old  and  young  were  there,  men  and  women,  the  new 
convert  and  the  tried  and  ripe  believer,  the  hesitating  and 
the  stanch,  the  half  doubter  and  the  loyal,  the  far-off 
inquirer  and  the  scoffing  visitor,  the  nearer  inquirers,  of 
two  kinds,  "  energumens  "  and  "  catechumens."  The 
audiences  were  thus  sufficiently  varied  in  character  to 
require  different  modes  of  address  as  circumstances 
might  demand. 

The  material  or  contents  of  the  early  preaching  did 
not  in  general  character  present  any  marked  contrast  to 
that  which  has  ever  since  been  the  main  staple  of  which 
sermons  are  made,  but  there  was,  as  always,  great  differ- 
ence in  the  details  of  volume,  of  grasp,  of  relative  im- 
portance, and  of  presentation.  The  main  elements  of 
Christian  discourse  were  three:  the  apostolic  tradition, 
Scripture,  and  the  personal  contribution  of  the  preacher. 
The  last  was  then  and  always  has  been  a  greatly  variable 
quantity,  and  the  importance  assigned  to  the  first  two 

1  Paul  clearly  intimates  the  possible  presence  of  unbelievers  in 
the  assemblies  for  worship  at  Corinth  in  i  Cor.  14 : 23. 


4O  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

has  likewise  varied  much  in  different  ages  and  in  the 
minds  of  different  preachers. 

Just  after  the  Apostles,  and  while  the  canon  of  Scrip- 
ture was  forming,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  apostolic  tra- 
dition must  justly  have  had  a  more  prominent  and  au- 
thoritative place  than  it  could  properly  claim  in  later 
times.  For  the  Apostles  themselves  passed  on  to  others 
what  they  knew  and  had  received  concerning  the  great 
facts  and  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith.1  Those  who 
le'arned  these  things  from  the  Apostles  and  their  fellow 
laborers  were  the  preachers  of  the  early  part  of  our 
period,  and  in  the  next  remove  those  who  learned  them 
from  the  pupils  of  the  apostolic  men  were  the  preachers 
of  at  latest  the  middle  part  of  it,  while  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  time  the  tradition  still  was  comparatively 
fresh.  But  in  process  of  time  and  in  passing  from  one 
to  another  the  newness  became  tarnished,  accretions  were 
made,  distortions  occurred,  heresies  crept  in,  and  trust- 
worthiness declined.  Such  deterioration  must  have 
soon  set  in,  and  later  times  only  too  sadly  witness  to  the 
evil  wrought  by  giving  undue  authority  to  untrustworthy 
legends,  and  to  principles  and  customs  falsely  regarded 
as  descending  straight  from  the  Apostles. 

But  in  the  good  providence  of  God  as  the  value  of 
tradition  declined  the  authority  of  Scripture,  particularly 
of  the  New  Testament  books,  came  to  be  more  and  more 
recognized.  The  Old  Testament  scriptures  had  from  the 
first  been  received  by  our  Lord  and  his  first  followers  as 
the  sacred  revelation  of  God  to  his  chosen  people.  To 
early  Jewish-Christians  these  holy  writings  were  part 
both  of  their  national  heritage  and  of  their  new  faith. 
By  early  Gentile-Christians  they  were  readily  accepted  as 
God's  word.  The  synagogue  was  the  depository  and 
the  interpreter  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  church 
easily  and  gladly  received  the  sacred  trust.  Soon  too 
the  written  Christian  tradition  as  embodied  in  the  Gos- 
pels and  Acts  began  to  correct  or  confirm  the  fainter 
growing  oral  testimony,  while  the  Letters  of  the  Apostles, 
carefully  preserved,  became  the  precious  treasure  of 
doctrine  and  duty  for  all  the  churches.  All  during  the 
period  under  review  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament 
*See  Luke  1:1-4;  i  Cor.  11:2  (R.  V.);  2  Tim.  2:2. 


THE  ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  41 

were  coming  more  and  more  to  be  regarded  as  a  part 
of  the  inspired  revelation  of  God;  and  thus  the  canon 
of  Scripture,  substantially  as  we  have  it  to-day,  was 
practically  completed  by  the  end  of  the  third  century. 
Thus  as  the  apostolic  tradition  became  less  direct,  and 
what  passed  for  it  grew  more  corrupt,  the  preachers  were 
furnished  with  that  treasury  of  divine  truth  which  the 
true  Christian  pulpit  has  ever  recognized  as  the  source 
of  its  teachings  and  the  authority  for  its  message.  We 
shall  see  as  we  go  on  more  in  detail  how  the  preaching  of 
the  early  centuries  dealt  with  the  Scriptures  in  the  way 
of  interpretation  and  application.  The  treatment  was  in- 
adequate and  often  unwise,  but  in  this  first  age,  as  in 
all  following  ones,  the  Bible  furnished  the  main  basis 
and  the  most  valuable  element  of  preaching. 

There  is  yet  to  be  mentioned  the  personal  element. 
Judging  from  the  few  remains  that  have  come  down  to 
us,  we  can  see  that  what  has  always  been  true  of  preaching 
since  was  true  of  it  in  the  period  we  are  studying.  There 
was  more  or  less  individual  freedom  in  handling  both 
the  scriptural  and  the  traditional  elements ;  and  the  illus- 
tration, reasoning,  exposition,  and  application  were 
largely  the  preacher's  own  work.  His  personality — < 
thought,  feeling,  method — must  mingle  with  his  sources 
and  characterize  his  product. 

In  form  the  sermons  of  the  early  times  were  unpre- 
tentious addresses,  as  their  name  "  homilies  " — conver- 
sations, talks — sufficiently  indicates.  They  were  without 
much  logical  order,  and  give  little  if  any  indication  of 
a  previously  prepared  outline.  The  character  of  the 
audience  would  determine  whether  the  talk  should  be 
chiefly  didactic  or  evangelistic,  and  the  circumstances  and 
purpose  of  the  preacher  would  decide  whether  it  should 
be  principally  doctrinal,  expository,  or  hortatory ;  or  how 
far  any  or  all  of  these  elements  might  be  combined  in  one 
discourse.  There  was  progress  both  toward  a  more  or- 
derly structure  and  a  more  expository  character,  and 
these  tendencies  were  powerfully  furthered  by  the  ex- 
ample and  teaching  of  Origen  toward  the  end  of  the 
third  century.  Before  his  time  Scripture  was  used  in  the 
homilies,  but  rather  by  way  of  quotation  and  application 
than  as  furnishing  a  text  for  exposition.  But  in  his 


42  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

hands  continuous  exposition  with  hortatory  application 
became  the  rule. 

In  regard  to  the  preservation  and  publication  of  ser- 
mons the  age,  as  in  many  other  things,  was  one  of  be- 
ginnings and  tendencies.  Sermon  literature  proper  be- 
longs to  a  later  time.  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  in 
many  cases  the  material  used  in  epistles  and  other  trea- 
tises had  been  first  employed  in  oral  address,  and  the 
apostolic  epistles  and  others,  as  we  have  seen,  were  much 
of  the  nature  of  addresses.  For  sermons  themselves, 
then  as  now,  there  were  two  ways  of  preservation :  to 
be  written  by  the  preacher  himself  before  or  after  deliv- 
ery ;  and  to  be  reported  by  others  during  or  after  delivery, 
with  or  without  the  author's  revision.  The  Ancient 
Homily,  which  will  presently  claim  fuller  notice,  is  an 
example  of  the  first  method ;  the  numerous  homilies  of 
Origen  are  an  example  of  the  second.1  Shorthand  writ- 
ing (tachygraphy)  was  in  vogue  in  those  times,  and 
oral  discourses  were  often  reported  in  this  way.  It  has 
been  reasonably  conjectured  2  that  the  recognized  supe- 
riority and  value  of  the  expository  over  the  hortatory 
homilies  led  to  the  taking  down  and  preservation  of  more 
of  the  expository  kind  than  of  others.  It  is  to  this  that  we 
owe  our  possession  of  comparatively  so  many  more  of 
Origen's  expository  homilies  than  of  others.  We  cannot 
but  wish  that  some  of  those  old  reporters  had  foreseen 
and  benevolently  considered  the  scholarly  curiosity  of 
our  times. 

4.    THE  PRINCIPAL  PREACHERS  OF  THE  AGE. 

It  is  common  to  divide  the  literature  of  the  first  three 
centuries  into  three  groups:  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  the 
Apologists,  and  the  Ante-Nicene  Theologians.  While 
this  classification  is  like  all  similar  ones  in  not  being 
rigidly  accurate,  it  is  very  far  from  being  arbitrary,  for 
it  is  founded  in  the  nature  of  the  material  and  it  cor- 
responds fairly  well  with  the  course  of  events.  It  is  also 
quite  as  convenient  for  the  history  of  preaching  as  for 
that  of  general  Christian  literature,  and  is  therefore 

1  Euseb.,  H.  E.,  VI.,  23 ;  and  L.,  6. 

2  Rothe,  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  13. 


43 

adopted  here.  It  will  be  noticed  in  the  discussion  follow- 
ing that  the  time  limits  of  the  different  groups  overlap, 
though  there  is  succession.  Thus  the  Apologists  fol- 
lowed the  Apostolic  Fathers,  but  began  before  their  pre- 
decessors had  finished  their  work;  and  the  Theologians 
prior  to  the  Nicene  council  were  many  of  them  con- 
temporary with  the  later  Apologists. 

The  literary  remains  embraced  under  the  title  Apostolic 
Fathers  consist  of  the  writings  of  men  who  were,  or  may 
reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  been,  in  direct  contact 
with  some  of  the  Apostles  themselves.  Their  age  may 
be  considered  as  extending  from  the  death  of  the 
Apostles  (68  or  100)  to  a  date  just  past  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  say  160.  The  literature  of  the  period 
is  scanty  in  amount  and  of  little  intrinsic  value,  but 
because  it  is  all  that  we  have  its  relative  importance  is 
beyond  estimate.  Its  homiletical  worth  is  almost  nothing, 
as  it  contains  only  one  homily  properly  so-called,  and 
its  notices  of  preaching  are  not  very  numerous  or  clear. 
We  need  not  discuss  these  writings,  but  only  notice  the 
three  foremost  preachers  of  the  time,  and  give  some  ac- 
count of  its  only  remaining  sermon. 

Polycarp  (69?-! 55),  bishop  or  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Smyrna,  was  a  loving  disciple  of  John  the  Apostle.  He 
suffered  martyrdom  under  the  reign  of  Antoninus  Pius 
in  155.  When  asked  to  renounce  his  faith  in  view  of  the 
stake  he  said  that  he  had  been  serving  his  Lord  for  eighty- 
six  years  and  could  not  renounce  him  now.  This  would 
put  back  the  date  of  his  birth  or  baptism  to  the  year  69, 
according  as  he  meant  all  his  life  or  all  his  Christian  life. 
He  was  a  noble  and  beloved  man  and  pastor.  One  of  his 
writings,  an  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  (date  probably 
before  150),  remains,  and  indicates  his  pious  character 
and  a  warm  earnestness  which  must  have  marked  his 
preaching. 

Ignatius  was  bishop  at  Antioch.  He  also  suffered 
martyrdom,  and  the  date  of  his  death  lies  between  the 
years  107  and  115.  There  remain  a  number  of  epistles 
attributed  to  him,  but  their  genuineness  is  much  disputed. 
Allowing  that  a  few,  in  substance  at  least,  are  really  his, 
they  exhibit  more  intellectual  power  than  Polycarp  had 
and  a  greater  vehemence  of  nature,  but  less  of  poise, 


44  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

moderation,  holiness.  Yet  he  must  have  been  a  preacher 
of  considerable  force. 

The  most  important  of  the  three,  however,  is  perhaps 
Clement  of  Rome  (d.  c.  100),  whose  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  of  date  about  97,  is  the  oldest  specimen  of 
post-apostolic  literature.  He  may  be  the  Clement  of 
whom  Paul  speaks  in  Philippians  4:3,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  bishops  of  the  Roman  church.  His  letter  shows 
the  Roman  dignity  and  capacity  for  administration.  Of 
his  preaching  there  is  no  mention  nor  certain  trace,  but 
his  force  of  character  and  his  position  render  some  testi- 
mony to  his  power  as  a  teacher  of  the  word. 

But  passing  the  preachers  we  notice  now  the  only 
homiletical  relic  of  this  earliest  age.  This  is  an  ancient 
document  which  has  been  commonly  called  the  Second 
Epistle  of  Clement.1  Only  a  fragment  of  it  was  known 
to  modern  scholars  till  a  comparatively  recent  date.  But 
even  in  this  fragmentary  form  its  Clementine  authorship 
was  disputed,  and  its  true  nature  as  a  homily  rather  than 
an  epistle  was  suspected.  The  discovery  of  the  complete 
text  has  confirmed  both  these  opinions,  and  makes  it  now 
clear  that  Clement  of  Rome  was  not  its  author.  From 
a  passage  in  the  writing  itself 2  we  learn  that  it  was  read 
by  the  author  to  the  congregation  immediately  after  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  worship,  and  from  this  and 
other  indications  its  homiletical  character  is  established. 
The  authorship  must  be  left  in  doubt,  but  Lightfoot's 
ingenious  conjecture  may  be  provisionally  accepted,  that 
it  is  a  homily  of  a  bishop  or  presbyter  of  the  Corinthian 
church.  Its  date  is  probably  about  135-140,  but  it  is  not 
certainly  fixed. 

The  theme  of  the  homily  is  the  duty  of  living  the  right 
sort  of  Christian  life  as  a  recompense  to  Christ  for  the 
gift  of  salvation.  There  is  no  clear-cut  division  of  the 
matter,  but  the  two  leading  thoughts  are,  confession  of 
Christ,  and  repentance,  as  necessary  to  the  Christian  life. 
These  are  repeatedly  urged  and  enforced  in  a  variety  of 
ways  and  from  a  variety  of  motives.  The  doctrine  is 
not  elaborate,  the  homily  being  hortatory  in  character, 
but  the  main  great  teachings  of  the  Christian  faith  are 

1  Riddle's  notes,  and  the  translation  of  the  homily  in  Ante-Ni- 
cene  Fathers,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  372  ff  and  p.  512  ff.  *  Chap.  19. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  45 

implied,  and  for  all  that  appears  to  the  contrary  the  treat- 
ment is  orthodox.  The  morality  urged  is  sound  and 
elevated.  The  style  is  natural,  simple  and  appropriate ; 
but  is  not  marked  by  special  oratorical  excellence,  is 
somewhat  feeble,  and  is  marred  by  much  repetition.  The 
use  of  Scripture  is  reverent.  There  is  no  text,  but  the 
quotations  and  allusions  are  frequent,  and  derived  from 
both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  This  is  significant 
for  the  early  recognition  of  the  New  Testament  writings 
as  authoritative  in  pulpit  use.  The  interpretation  and 
application  are  fairly  good.  There  is  no  wild  allegorizing 
or  forcing  of  Scripture.  The  tone  and  spirit  are  admir- 
able— faith,  hope,  and  love,  with  humility  and  sincerity, 
are  apparent  throughout.  Particularly  worthy  of  note  is 
a  passage  near  the  end,  where  the  preacher  modestly  de- 
clares that  though  conscious  of  imperfection  he  tries  to  do 
what  he  urges  upon  others,  and  begs  his  hearers  to  think 
on  these  things  after  they  leave  the  house  of  worship  and 
go  about  their  affairs.  He  earnestly  exhorts  them  in  view 
of  the  future  life,  and  tenderly  consoles  them  in  the  midst 
of  present  trials,  concluding  with  a  doxology. 

Next  after  these  Apostolic  Fathers  we  take  up  the  im- 
portant group  of  early  Christian  writers  known  as  the 
Apologists.  The  reigns  of  the  so-called,  "  Five  Good 
Emperors,"  extending  over  about  eighty  years  and  lying 
chiefly  within  the  second  century,  are  the  golden  age  of 
Roman  imperial  rule.  Yet  within  these  reigns  Christians 
were  hated  and  persecuted,  though  not  so  severely  as  in 
later  times.  It  is  a  painful  fact  that  Marcus  Aurelius,  the 
best  of  all  the  Roman  emperors,  and  one  of  the  wisest, 
most  humane  and  just  of  all  earthly  rulers,  looked  upon 
Christianity  with  contempt,  and  permitted,  if  he  did  not 
encourage,  the  persecution  of  its  votaries.  Before  his 
time  the  peaceful  and  energetic  administration  of 
Hadrian  (117-138)  offered  a  fair  occasion  for  the  rise  of 
a  notable  class  of  Christian  writers,  who  defended  their 
faith  from  the  attacks  of  its  enemies,  and  the  succeeding 
reigns  were  such  as  to  render  this  kind  of  work  still  neces- 
sary and  not  hopeless.  Hence  we  have  the  Christian 
Apologists  of  the  second  century.1  There  was  demand 

1  Cf.  A.  H.  Newman,  Manual  of  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  237  ff., 
and  many  other  authorities,  especially  also  The  Ante-Nicene 
Fathers,  Am.  ed. 


46  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  response.  The  persecution  and  misrepresentation  of 
Christianity  called  for  defence.  Its  remarkable  progress 
among  the  people  and  its  growing  favor  with  some  among 
the  upper  classes  of  society  had  called  forth  not  only  vio- 
lent social  and  ostensibly  legal  opposition,  but  also  many 
foul  calumnies  as  a  pretext  for  persecution.  There  were 
now  among  the  Christians  a  number  of  acute  and  edu- 
cated men,  philosophers,  lawyers  and  others,  who  were 
capable  of  doing  this  work,  and  they  did  it. 

Besides  those  whose  writings  place  them  among  the 
Apologists,  there  were,  no  doubt,  many  excellent  and 
worthy  preachers  in  this  time.  One  of  these  was 
Dionysius,  bishop  of  Corinth,  of  whom  Eusebius  x  says, 
"  He  imparted  freely  not  only  to  his  own  people  but  to 
others  abroad  also  the  blessings  of  his  divine  labors." 
Among  the  Apologists  whose  names  and  works  (or 
notices  of  thean)  have  come  down  to  us,  some  were 
preachers,  though  not  all.  Of  these  the  most  important 
for  us  were  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian,  who,  though 
his  Apologeticus  and  other  writings  place  him  in  this 
group,  is  more  properly  reckoned  among  the  Theologians. 
Others  were :  Quadratus,  who  is  probably  to  be  identified 
with  a  bishop,  and  therefore  a  preacher,  at  Athens  in  that 
time;  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis,  who  was  a  strong  man, 
and  is  called  a  "  prophet ;"  and  Theophilus  the  sixth 
bishop  of  Antioch,  -  whose  apology  addressed  to  one 
Autolycus  is  vigorous  and  written  in  a  good  style  which 
suggests  his  power  as  a  speaker. 

On  the  whole,  while  technically  no  sermons  remain 
from  this  group  of  preachers,  their  writings  and  those  of 
their  lay  fellow-laborers  reveal  traces  of  a  vigorous  and 
fruitful  ministry  of  the  Word.  The  Apologists  had  as 
a  rule  more  culture  and  more  intellectual  power  than  the 
Apostolic  Fathers.  There  is  evidence  in  their  writings 
of  wide  reading,  considerable  acquaintance  with  litera- 
ture and  philosophy,  and  .no  small  degree  of  vigor  and 
grasp  of  mind. 

Their  best  representative  was  Justin  (c.  100-165), 
afterwards  called  the  Martyr.  He  was  a  very  able  and 
interesting  man.  He  was  born  probably  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  century,  at  Neapolis  (the  ancient 

*//.  E.,  IV.,  23. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  47 

Sychem)  in  Samaria,  of  heathen  parents.  It  is  uncertain 
whether  they  were  of  Greek  or  Roman  extraction.  Jus- 
tin was  well  educated,  and  seems  to  have  had  means  suffi- 
cient to  lead  a  life  of  travel  and  study.  He  sought 
mental  rest  in  various  systems  of  philosophy,  except 
Epicureanism  which  he  hated,  and  was  about  to  settle 
down  into  Platonism  when  he  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity. He  met  one  day  near  the  seashore  a  pleasant- 
faced  old  man,  who  engaged  him  in  conversation  and 
made  known  to  him  the  Christian  faith.  This  led  to 
his  conversion,  and  he  found  peace  of  mind.  He 
became  an  earnest  defender  of  Christianity.  He  travelled 
much,  retaining  his  philosopher's  cloak,  not  so  much  now 
because  it  was  a  badge  of  distinction,  as  because  it  gave 
him  the  opportunity  to  teach,  with  the  authority  of  cul- 
ture, the  truths  of  his  religion.  He  was  not  ordained  a 
presbyter,  but  found  frequent  occasion  to  discourse  to  the 
few  or  many  who  might  be  attracted  to  hear  him  con- 
cerning the  faith.  He  awakened  the  jealousy  and  opposi- 
tion of  a  philosopher  named  Crescens,  at  whose  instiga- 
tion probably  he  was  condemned  and  martyred  under 
Marcus  Aurelius,  about  165.  His  three  writings — the 
First  and  Second  Apology  and  the  Dialogue  with  Trypho 
the  Jew — are  of  great  value  for  what  they  teach  as  to  the 
doctrines  and  customs  of  the  Christians  of  his  time. 
They  also  give  us  a  fairly  good  idea  of  his  views,  his 
mental  capacity,  and  his  style.  He  handled  the  Scriptures 
quite  freely,  dealing  mainly  with  the  prophecies  as  ful- 
filled in  Christ.  He  had  some  wrong  notions,  but  was 
deeply  in  earnest  and  must  have  been  a  preacher  of  some 
eloquence  and  power. 

The  third  group  of  early  Christian  writers  is  that  of 
the  Ante-Nicene  Theologians,  whose  work  may  be  re- 
garded as  covering  the  time  from  Irenaeus,  say  180,  to 
Arnobius,  about  3OO.1  This  was  a  time  of  short  reigns 
and  great  confusion  and  turmoil  in  the  empire.  It  was 
also  the  period  in  which  occurred  the  worst  persecutions 
of  the  Christians;  those  under  Severus  (202),  Maximin 
(235-238),  Decius  (249-251),  Valerian  (257-258),  and 
Diocletian  (303),  being  very  severe.  It  was  too  late  to 

1  Various  editions  of  their  works.     For  American  readers  The 
Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  as  before. 


48  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

suppress  Christianity  by  governmental  force.  In  spite 
of  opposition  it  had  only  grown  stronger.  Now  with  this 
accession  of  strength  there  came  men  of  classical  and 
philosophical  culture,  to  whom  it  was  natural  to  phil- 
osophize about  the  faith  and  to  endeavor  to  formulate  its 
truths.  Parallel  with  this  tendency  was  the  work  of  the 
Apologists  already  noticed,  and  the  development  of  church 
unity  and  organization.  And,  most  influential  of  all,  there 
had  been  from  earliest  times  heresies  and  sects  disturbing 
the  clear  stream  of  Christian  doctrine.  All  these  things 
contributed  to  the  rise  of  the  class  of  theologians  who 
grappled  with  the  great  thoughts  revealed  in  Scripture, 
and  sought  to  develop  them  into  something  of  a  philo- 
sophic system.  Allowing  for  individual  differences,  it 
is  fair  to  say  in  general  terms  of  these  Christian  thinkers 
that  for  the  most  part  they  were  men  of  fine  mental  gifts, 
good  education,  ample  learning,  deep  knowledge  of 
Scripture,  elevated  morals,  and  devoted  piety.  As  scholars 
and  theologians,  notwithstanding  some  faults  and 
vagaries,  they  must  ever  hold  high  rank  in  religious 
history,  and  their  writings  are  a  priceless  source  of  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  men,  events,  customs,  and  opinions 
of  Christianity  in  their  time. 

Many  of  these  theologians  were  notable  and  useful 
preachers  of  the  word,  yet  very  few  specimens  of  their 
homiletic  work  remain,  except  in  the  single  case  of 
Origen.  We  are  dependent  upon  their  writings,  and 
upon  such  scanty  notices  of  their  preaching  as  may  be 
given  by  others,  for  our  imperfect  estimate  of  their  work 
and  power  as  preachers.  During  their  time  and  in  their 
hands  the  informal  and  familiar  homily  of  previous  times 
made  decided  advance  toward  the  more  oratorical  and 
elaborate  address  or  sermon  of  the  next  period.  While 
others  contributed  to  this  development,  the  greatest  single 
personal  force  in  it  was  the  eminent  scholar  and  teacher 
Origen,  of  Alexandria  and  Caesarea.  He  was  one  of  those 
leaders  of  thought  whose  faculty  and  privilege  it  is  to 
perceive,  exemplify  and  guide,  if  they  do  not  originate, 
some  tendency  or  tendencies  of  the  age  in  which  they  live. 
A  more  particular  account  of  him  will  be  given  later.  It 
is  sufficient  to  quote  here  the  summary  statement  of 
Christlieb ; *  "  Through  Origen  the  sermon  received  the 

1Art.  Gesch.  der  Predigt,  Herzog,  R.  E.,  18,  supplement. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  49 

fixed  form  of  an  explanation  and  application  of  a  text." 

For  convenience  of  study  we  may  consider  the  great 
theologians  as  falling  into  an  eastern  and  a  western 
group,  in  each  of  which  there  are  again  two  clearly  dis- 
tinguished schools,  namely,  in  the  East  the  Alexandrian 
and  Antiochian,  and  in  the  West  the  Grseco-Roman  and 
the  North  African.  We  shall  notice  them  in  the  order 
just  given. 

At  Alexandria  there  was  founded  in  early  times,  date 
not  known,  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  catechumens. 
It  grew  into  a  school  for  the  training  of  teachers  and 
preachers,  and  was  at  various  times  under  the  headship 
of  highly  distinguished  men.  Of  these  the  two  most 
important  for  us  are  Clement  and  Origen. 

Clement  (c.  160-220)  was  born  probably  at  Athens  near 
the  middle  of  the  second  century.  He  was  highly  educated, 
and  trained  in  the  Greek  philosophy.  Seeking  light  he 
came  to  Alexandria,  and  was  brought  to  Christianity  by 
Pantsenus  at  that  time  head  of  the  catechetical  school 
there.  About  190  he  succeeded  Pantaenus  as  leader  in  the 
school,  was  banished  about  202,  and  probably  died  not 
later  than  220.  Not  much  can  be  known  of  his  preaching 
from  his  great  and  valuable  theological  writings.  But 
among  them  is  an  Outline  (Hypotyposis)  of  the  Catholic 
Epistles  which  is  a  sort  of  expository  discourse,  and  in  it, 
as  Christlieb  says,  "  the  first  germs  of  the  homily  show 
themselves."  Clement  was  a  many-sided  man,  theologian, 
exegete,  poet,  preacher.  His  influence  on  Origen  was 
deep  and  formative,  and  through  his  illustrious  pupil  he 
has  left  a  broad  mark  on  preaching  and  on  Christian 
thought. 

As  a  point  of  secondary  importance  in  his  relation  to 
preaching  it  may  be  noted  that  for  polemical  purposes  he 
has  preserved  in  his  writings1  two  homilies  (fragments) 
of  the  famous  Gnostic,  Valentinus.  Of  these  Broadus2 
says  that  they  "  are  of  curious  interest  but  not  homileti- 
cally  instructive."  But  they,  at  least,  show  that  the  form 
of  the  "  homily  "  was  already  coming  into  vogue,  and  that 
heretics  as  well  as  the  orthodox  preached. 

The  greatest  name  among  the  Alexandrian  theologians 
is  that  of  the  learned   scholar  and   eminent  Christian, 
1  Stromat.,  IV.,  13..         *  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  45. 


50  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Origen  (185-254).  He  was  born  at  Alexandria,  prob- 
ably about  185,  of  Christian  parents.  He  was  trained 
in  Christian  lore  from  his  childhood,  and  like  many 
another  clever  boy  puzzled  his  father  with  precocious 
and  hard  questions.  When  his  father  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom in  202  Origen  exhorted  him  to  courage  and 
himself  desired  the  martyr's  crown,  boy  though  he 
was,  but  was  hindered  from  giving  himself  up  to  the 
inquisitors  by  the  ingenuity  of  his  mother,  who  hid 
all  his  clothes  while  he  was  undressed,  and  thus  kept 
him  at  home  till  the  danger  or  the  impulse  had  passed  by. 
He  was  from  his  youth  a  rigorous  ascetic.1  As  a  student 
he  became  so  proficient  in  the  Scriptures  that  on  the  ban- 
ishment of  his  master  Clement  he  was,  though  a  very 
young  man,  appointed  to  succeed  that  great  teacher  in 
the  catechetical  school.  His  expository  lectures  were  so 
highly  valued  that  they  were  written  or  dictated  after 
delivery,  and  published  as  commentaries.  A  wealthy 
man  named  Ambrosius  was  his  friend  and  patron,  and 
furnished  the  means  for  employing  the  amanuenses  and 
copyists.  To  this  man's  kind  liberality  and  appreciation 
of  genius  we  owe  our  possession  of  so  many  of  Origen's 
works.  Later,  according  to  Eusebius,2  when  he  was  sixty 
years  of  age,  he  permitted  his  extemporaneous  discourses 
to  be  taken  down  by  shorthand  writers.  This  was  after 
his  ordination  as  a  presbyter,  and  these  discourses  are  his 
homilies  on  various  books  of  the  Bible. 

So  marked  was  his  success  as  an  expounder  of  Script- 
ure that  on  a  visit  to  Palestine  he  was  invited  to  preach  in 
church.  This  led  to  trouble,  as  he  was  not  yet  ordained. 
Whereupon  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem  ordained  him  a 
presbyter.  This  gave  great  offence  to  his  own  bishop  at 
Alexandria,  by  whom  in  232  a  council  was  called  and 
Origen  was  deposed.3  On  this  account  he  permanently 
left  Alexandria  and  set  up  a  school  at  Csesarea  in  Pales- 
tine. Here  he  died  under  persecution  in  254. 

His  services  to  the  development  of  preaching  were 

1  In  an  excess  of  youthful  zeal,  to  avoid  temptation,  and  taking 
Matt.  19 : 12  literally,  he  mutilated  himself. 

*H.  E.,  L.,6. 

*  One  of  the  principal  grounds  urged  for  this  action  was  his 
mutilation.  He  was  also  accused  of  heresy. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  51 

great.1  He  showed  by  example  the  importance  of  ex- 
pository preaching.  He  was  a  careful  scholar,  and  took 
great  pains  to  expound  the  Scriptures  and  to  make  the 
sacred  text  the  real  basis  of  preaching.  But  with  this 
good  service  must  be  reckoned  the  harm  he  did  by  lending 
the  sanction  of  his  great  influence  to  the  allegorical 
method  of  interpretation.  He  held  and  taught  a  threefold 
sense  of  Scripture — grammatical,  moral,  spiritual  (or 
allegorical) — and  regarded  the  last  as  the  best.  While 
he  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  the  originator  of  this 
method,  he  is  perhaps  more  responsible  than  any  one 
else  for  giving  it  dignity  and  enabling  it  to  fasten  such 
a  tremendous  grip  on  the  pulpit  of  all  ages. 

In  regard  to  Origen's  character  and  his  views  as  a 
preacher,  we  have  some  interesting  statements  by 
Eusebius,  and  some  hints  here  and  there  in  his  own  writ- 
ings. Not  only  did  his  extraordinary  ability  attract 
many  to  his  lectures,  both  at  Alexandria  in  his  youth 
and  at  Caesarea  in  his  age,  but  his  warmth  of  nature,  his 
enthusiasm  and  his  sympathy  won  men  to  him.  All  this 
stirred  up  enemies  and  persecutors.  But  he  bravely  and 
faithfully  held  on  his  course.  Eusebius  2  tells  of  all  this 
and  quotes  as  a  current  saying  concerning  Origen  that 
"  as  his  doctrine,  so  was  his  life ;  and  as  his  life,  so  also 
was  his  doctrine." 

Origen  left  no  formal  treatise  on  preaching,  but  Nebe  3 
has  gathered  and  put  together  from  his  writings  a  number 
of  items  regarding  the  spirit  and  method  of  his  work.  He 
believed  both  in  the  divine  call  and  qualification  of  the 
preacher,  and  also  in  the  need  of  human  effort  to  acquire 
and  improve  the  divine  gift  of  prophecy.  He  cared 
little  for  heathen  rhetoric  and  art  in  speech,  but  much  for 
the  simple,  clear,  forcible  exposition  of  God's  word.  He 
insisted  that  the  preacher  should  himself  be  pure  and 
reverent  that  he  might  properly  teach  his  hearers  the 
truth  of  God.  There  is  a  tradition — certainly  true  to  the 
spirit  of  the  man  if  not  actually  a  fact — that  once  when  he 
was  going  to  preach  his  eyes  chanced  to  fall  on  Psalm 

1  See  Broadus,  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  51  ff.  For  his  qualities  as  a 
preacher  see  Lentz,  Christliche  Homiletik,  Bd.  I.,  S.  33  ff.,  Paniel, 
S.  178  ff.,  and  Nebe,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  Bd.  I.,  S.  I  ff., 
an  especially  good  discussion. 

*H.  E.,  VI.,  3.  *Zur  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  I.,  S.  8ff. 


52  A    HISTORY    OF    PREACHING 

50:16,  "  But  unto  the  wicked  God  saith,  What  hast  thou 
to  do  to  declare  my  statutes,  or  that  thou  shouldest  take 
my  covenant  in  thy  mouth  ?  "  and  that  he  was  so  over- 
come with  emotion  he  could  not  go  on  for  his  tears.  As 
the  source  of  the  sermon  must  be  the  word  of  God,  so  its 
supreme  end  must  be  the  spiritual  edification  of  the 
hearer,  and  to  this  end  there  must  be  both  instruction  and 
exhortation.  So  he  insists  that  the  teacher  should  know 
both  the  word  and  the  hearts  of  men.  It  was  this  earnest 
desire  to  make  all  the  word  of  God  alike  spiritually  pro- 
fitable, which  led  him  into  the  mistake  of  extreme  allegor- 
ical interpretation.  In  this  he  has  no  consistent  principle, 
and  often  gives  the  rein  to  fancy.  His  Greek  was  simple, 
conversational,  chaste.  He  soared  to  no  oratorical  heights, 
nor  did  he  descend  to  the  colloquial  and  vulgar. 

Nearly  two  hundred  of  his  homilies  on  the  Bible  remain, 
chiefly  in  the  free  and  inaccurate  Latin  translations  of 
Rufinus  and  Jerome.  In  the  original  Greek  there  are  ex- 
tant only  nineteen,  all  on  the  book  of  Jeremiah.1  Of  these, 
according  to  Klostermann,  there  were  originally  probably 
forty-three,  but  only  the  nineteen  have  been  preserved. 
The  same  scholar  thinks  that  they  were  probably  delivered 
at  Caesarea  between  the  years  242  and  244,  and  were 
among  those  mentioned  by  Eusebius  as  having  been  taken 
down  by  shorthand  writers  as  they  were  delivered.  We 
have  the  Latin  translations  of  these  also,  and  they  show 
how  very  free  and  often  inaccurate  the  translators  were. 

As  a  sample  of  Origen's  manner  the  following  literal 
translation  of  the  opening  paragraph  of  the  sixteenth 
homily  on  Jeremiah  is  offered :2  Jer.  16:16,  "Behold  I 
will  send  for  many  fishers,  saith  the  Lord,  and  they  shall 
fish  them;  and  after  will  I  send  for  many  hunters  and 
they  shall  hunt  them  from  every  mountain,  and  from 
every  hill,  and  out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks." 

"  It  is  written  in  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew 
that  our  Saviour  came  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  saw 
Simon  and  Andrew  his  brother  casting  a  net  into  the  sea ; 
for  they  were  fishers.  Then  says  the  Wor.d  that  the 

1  See  Migne,  Pat.  Gr.,  torn.  13,  col.  255  ss.,  also  Klostermann 
in  Texie  und  Untersuchungen,  neue  Folge,  I.,  3,  Die  Uberliefer- 
ung  der  Jeremia-Homilien  dcs  Ongcnes. 
Migne,  Pat.  Gr.,  torn.  13,  col.  457  ss. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  53 

Saviour  seeing  them  said,  '  Come  after  me,  and  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men;  but  they,  leaving  their  nets, 
followed  him.'  And  Jesus  made  them  still  to  take  up 
fishing.  And  he  found  two  other  brothers,  James  the  son 
of  Zebedee  and  John  his  brother,  in  the  boat  with  their 
father  mending  the  nets ;  and  these  he  called  to  the  same 
craft  [lit.  skill].  He  has  made  them  also  fishers  of  men. 
Now,  if  any  one  should  consider  those  who  have  from 
God  a  grace  of  speech  filled  as  a  dragnet,  and  woven  from 
the  holy  Scriptures  as  a  cast-net,  so  that  the  network 
should  encompass  the  souls  of  the  hearers;  and  should 
also  cleverly  perceive  that  this  came  about  according  to 
the  skill  which  Jesus  taught ;  he  will  see  how  not  only 
then,  but  also  now  our  Saviour  sends  fishers  of  men, 
training  them  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  come  up 
from  the  sea  and  flee  its  bitter  waves.  But  those  fish, 
the  irrational  ones,  coming  up  in  the  seines  and  in  the 
cast-nets  and  in  the  dragnets  or  on  the  hooks,  die  a  real 
death  because  life  does  not  follow  death.  But  he  who  is 
taken  by  the  fishers  of  Jesus,  and  comes  up  from  the  sea, 
he  also  indeed  dies,  but  he  dies  to  the  world,  he  dies  to 
sin,  and  after  dying  to  the  world  and  to  sin,  he  is  made 
alive  by  the  word  of  God  and  takes  on  another  life;  as 
though  you  could  by  supposition  see  the  soul  of  the  fish 
changing,  after  it  had  come  out  of  the  fishy  body,  and 
becoming  something  better  than  a  fish.  I  take  this  as  an 
example.  Let  no  one  make  objection  concerning  things 
he  never  heard  of — let  him  imagine  such  a  thing.  Thou 
hast  come  up  from  the  sea,  falling  into  the  nets  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus;  coming  forth  thou  changest  thy  soul,  thou 
art  no  longer  a  fish,  passing  thy  time  in  the  briny  waves 
of  the  sea;  but  at  once  thy  soul  changes,  and  is  trans- 
formed, and  becomes  something  better  and  diviner  than  it 
formerly  was.  But  that  it  is  transformed  and  changed 
hear  Paul  saying,  '  But  we  all  with  unveiled  face  gazing 
as  in  a  mirror  upon  the  glory  of  the  Lord  are  transformed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  as  from  the 
Lord,  the  Spirit/  And  being  thus  transformed,  the  fish 
that  is  caught  by  the  fishers  of  Jesus,  leaving  the  haunts 
of  the  sea  makes  his  haunts  in  the  mountains,  so  that 
he  no  longer  needs  the  fishers  who  bring  him  up  from  the 
sea,  but  those  second  ones,  such  as  are  called  hunters,  who 


54  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

hunt  from  every  mountain  and  from  every  hill.  Thou, 
therefore,  having  come  up  from  the  sea,  and  having  been 
caught  in  the  nets  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  change  from 
the  sea,  forget  it,  come  up  upon  the  mountains,  the 
prophets,  and  upon  the  hills,  the  righteous,  and  make 
there  thy  haunts,  in  order  that  after  these  things,  when 
the  time  of  thy  departure  is  at  hand,  the  many  hunters 
may  be  sent  forth,  other  than  the  fishers.  But  who  could 
these  be  but  those  who  have  been  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  receiving  the  souls  that  are  in  the  hills,  that  are 
no  longer  lying  below?  And  see  if  the  prophet  has  not 
mystically  called  out  saying  these  things,  and  offering  this 
thought,  when  he  says,  '  Behold  I  send  many  fishers, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  they  shall  fish  them ;  and  afterwards  I 
will  send  many  hunters  and  they  shall  hunt  them  upon 
every  mountain,  and  upon  every  hill.'  " 

Here  we  see  something  of  Origen's  exuberant  fancy 
in  interpretation,  but  he  has  much  that  is  more  extreme 
than  this.  Here  too  we  catch  glimpses  of  his  reverent 
spirit,  and  observe  his  engaging,  unpretentious,  but  not 
lofty  or  moving  style.  His  lack  of  orderly  method  is  also 
apparent.  In  his  work  generally  there  is  considerable 
acuteness  of  interpretation  with  much  fanciful  allegoriz- 
ing, but  there  is  also  earnest  appeal  and  sound  practical 
application.  He  was  not  an  orator,  but  a  teacher  by  in- 
stinct and  experience.  But  take  him  all  in  all,  both  for 
what  he  himself  did  and  for  what  he  influenced  others  to 
do,  he  was  the  most  important  preacher  of  the  third 
century. 

A  devoted  pupil  of  Origen  during  his  Csesarean  min- 
istry was  Gregory,  afterward  surnamed  Thaumaturgus 
(Wonderworker)  in  order  to  distinguish  him  from  others 
of  the  name.  He  was  born  at  Neo-Csesarea  in  Pontus, 
about  210.  Coming  to  Palestine  on  some  business  he 
heard  of  Origen's  lectures  at  Caesarea  and  came  to  hear 
him.  This  led  to  his  conversion  to  Christianity  and  to 
his  lifelong  devotion  to  his  great  teacher  and  friend.  He 
studied  with  Origen  eight  years,  and  then  took  leave  of 
him  in  a  fulsome  panegyric  which  has  come  down  to  us. 
It  was  in  the  fashion  of  the  time  and  decidedly  over- 
done; but  it  exhibits  both  a  high  appreciation  of  his 
teacher  and  a  certain  rhetorical  power. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,   AGE  55 

Returning  to  his  home  in  Pontus,  Gregory  devoted  him- 
self to  religious  work  among  his  own  people.  Soon  on 
account  of  his  piety,  ability  and  zeal  he  was,  much  against 
his  will,  made  bishop.  It  is  said  that  he  found  on  his 
return  from  Palestine  only  seventeen  Christians  in  his 
neighborhood;  but  his  earnest  and  fruitful  labors  for 
thirty  years  spread  Christianity  through  all  that  region, 
and  hundreds  were  brought  to  Christ  through  him.  This 
great  success,  perhaps,  rather  than  reputation  for  miracle- 
working,  earned  him  his  surname  of  Thaumaturgus.  His 
success  speaks  more  of  his  power  as  a  preacher  than  his 
overwrought  Panegyric  on  Origen,  or  the  few  and  prob- 
ably not  genuine  homilies  which  have  been  ascribed  to 
him. 

These  three  were  the  most  important  of  the  oriental 
group  of  preachers  among  the  Theologians,  but  a  word 
must  be  said  regarding  the  other  school  of  eastern 
theologians  which  had  its  seat  at  Antioch.1  Its  most 
famous  representatives  belong  to  a  later  time.  But 
Lucian  and  Dorotheus  are  named  as  having  been  in  charge 
of  a  school  at  Antioch  as  early  as  280.  This  is  regarded 
as  the  beginning  of  the  line  of  theologians  and  preachers 
of  the  Antiochian  school,  whose  distinction  it  was  to  urge 
and  exemplify  the  literal,  historical  and  grammatical 
interpretation  of  Scripture  as  opposed  to  the  fanciful 
allegorical  method  of  the  Alexandrian  school. 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  western  group 
of  the  Ante-Nicene  Theologians,  and  give  brief  considera- 
tion to  those  among  them  who  are  chiefly  important  as 
preachers.  And  here  we  observe  a  very  important  line  of 
distinction.  Some  of  these  men  used  the  Greek  tongue 
in  their  writings,  and  presumably  also  in  speech.  This 
was  in  Italy  and  Gaul.  But  in  North  Africa,  chiefly 
though  not  exclusively,  there  arose  a  great  line  of  thinkers 
who  used  the  Latin,  and  became  the  founders  of  the  Latin 
theology. 

Clement  and  other  early  bishops  of  the  Roman  church 
used  the  Greek  language.  How  long  it  was  before  Latin 
asserted  its  rightful  claim,  and  became  the  churchly  as 
it  was  the  vernacular  speech  of  the  West,  is  not  known. 
Most  probable  is  the  conjecture2  that  both  languages  were 
1  See  Cruttwell,  Literary  History  of  Christianity,  Vol.  II.,  p.  532. 

*Cruttwell,  ofy.  cit.,  II.,  p.  405. 


56  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

used  for  a  while  in  worship  and  documents.  But  about 
the  time  of  bishop  Victor  (187)  there  is  a  decided  change 
toward  the  dominant  use  of  Latin.  Among  the  leaders 
who  are  worthy  of  mention  as  preachers  two  only  need 
claim  our  notice  here. 

Some  time  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century 
there  was  born  somewhere  in  Asia  Minor  one  who  was  to 
receive  the  name  of  Irenaeus — the  peaceful  one — was  to  be 
a  pupil  of  the  venerable  Polycarp,  who  had  sat  at  the  feet 
of  the  beloved  John,  and  yet  was  to  be  in  the  far  West 
in  mature  life  the  laborious  bishop  and  the  stout  an- 
tagonist of  "  all  the  heresies."  In  his  youth  Irenaeus  re- 
ceived a  good  education,  and  was  well  taught  in  the 
Scriptures  and  in  the  earlier  Christian  writings.  He  be- 
came a  man  of  great  piety  and  simplicity  of  character. 
While  he  was  working  as  a  missionary  in  Gaul,  the 
bishop  of  Lyons  was  martyred  (177),  and  the  courageous 
evangelist  succeeded  to  the  dangerous  post.  Schaff  says 
of  him,  "  He  combined  vast  literary  and  missionary 
activity."  He  is  lost  to  view  after  190.  A  somewhat 
doubtful  tradition  tells  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  under 
Septimius  Severus  in  202.  His  greatest  work,  Against 
Heresies,  appeared  about  185.  No  sermons  remain.  His 
writings  are  hard  and  tedious.  He  modestly  disclaims 
eloquence,  and  he  probably  had  no  high  oratorical  gifts, 
but  he  was  an  able,  wise,  earnest,  useful  pastor  and  dili- 
gent preacher. 

Much  more  notable  as  a  preacher  was  the  great  contro- 
versialist, Hippolytus  (170-236),  of  whom  Schaff1  cleverly 
says  that  he  has  lived  three  lives:  the  real  one  in  the 
third  century,  a  fictitious  one  as  a  canonized  saint  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  a  literary  one  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury since  the  recovery  of  his  works.  Of  his  real  life  little 
is  known.  His  name  and  his  use  of  Greek  indicate 
Grecian  parentage,  though  not  necessarily  eastern  birth. 
He  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius2  as  a  bishop,  but  without 
designation  of  place,  and  Jerome  in  his  Illustrious  Men 

1  Church  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  758.  Cf.  also  Bunsen,  Hippolytus 
and  Callistus;  and  a  supplement  (on  Hippolytus'  relations  to 
Origen)  by  Trumpelmann  in  Rothe's  Geschichte  der  Predigt. 
Further,  Cruttwell,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  403,  and  Achelis,  in  Texte  und 
Untersuchungen,N.F.,I.,4.  *H.E.,  VI.,  20,  22. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  57 

speaks  of  him  as  bishop  of  "  some  church  "  (cujusdam 
ecclesia}  ;  but  his  real  place  remains  unknown.  Later 
tradition  says  he  was  bishop  of  Portus  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Tiber,  while  some  have  conjectured  that  he  was 
assistant  bishop,  or  rival  bishop,  of  Rome.  At  any  rate  he 
was  called  a  bishop,  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  Roman 
church,  and  got  into  a  quarrel  with  Callistus,  the  con- 
temporary Roman  bishop,  whom  he  handles  very  se- 
verely in  one  of  his  writings.  It  seems  that  he  was  ban- 
ished by  the  Emperor  Maximin,  about  235,  to  the  mines 
of  Sardinia,  where  he  soon  died. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  a  sitting  statue,  supposed  to 
be  his,  was  found.  On  the  back  of  it  a  number  of  writ- 
ings attributed  to  him  are  enumerated.  He  wrote  a  large 
number  of  controversial  works.  What  of  his  preaching? 
Eusebius  speaks  of  him  as  an  "  eloquent "  man,  and 
Jerome  tells  how  he  once  delivered  a  notable  sermon  on 
the  Praise  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  in  a  church  at  Rome, 
in  presence  of  Origen  who  was  visiting  there  at  the  time. 
This  sermon  has  not  come  down  to  us,  but  there  is  pre- 
served one  on  the  Holy  Theophany1  at  the  baptism  of 
Jesus,  which  with  some,  probability  may  be  regarded  as 
genuine.2  It  is  a  baptismal  sermon  addressed  to  a  can- 
didate— probably  a  prominent  person — for  baptism,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  the  congregation.  It  followed  the  read- 
ing of  the  Scripture  lesson,  on  which  it  is  based  as  a  text. 
There  is  considerable  quotation  of  Scripture.  The  doc- 
trine is  not  elaborate.  It  is  sound  on  the  Trinity,  does 
not  discuss  atonement  or  grace,  and  teaches,  but  not 
baldly,  the  necessity  of  baptism  to  salvation.  In  the  con- 
clusion the  preacher  exhorts  his  hearers  to  come  and  be 
baptized,  but  only  on  the  basis  of  a  sound  repentance  and 
in  the  exercise  of  faith.  In  structure  and  style  the  homily 
is  suggestive  and  eloquent,  and  secures  for  its  author  a 
place  among  the  true  preachers  of  his  age. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  beginnings  of  Latin  theology 
are  found  in  North  Africa  rather  than  in  Rome.  Of 
those  who  were  notable  among  the  North  African 
theologians  two  at  least  claim  notice  as  preachers. 

1  Translated  in  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  V.,  p.  234. 

2  Questioned  by  Achelis,  op.  cit.,   S.   199  ff.,  but  accepted  by 
Zahn,  Lightfoot  and  others. 


5 8  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

One  of  the  most  eminent  Christian  writers  of  his  own 
or  any  age  was  Tertullian  (150-220).  He  was  born 
about  the  year  150  at  Carthage,  where  his  father  was  a 
centurion  in  the  Roman  army  in  the  service  of  the  pro- 
consul of  the  province.  Tertullian  received  a  good  educa- 
tion in  his  youth,  and  became  an  advocate,  it  seems  at 
Rome.  After  a  somewhat  wild  youth  he  was  converted 
when  about  forty  years  old,  and  became  a  very  earnest 
Christian.  Later  he  joined  the  strict  sect  of  the  Mon- 
tanists.  He  was  at  one  time  a  presbyter,  probably  at 
Carthage,  as  we  learn  from  Jerome;  but  he  was  not 
promoted,  and,  probably  on  account  of  his  Montanism, 
never  attained  distinction  as  a  church  officer.  His  chief 
title  to  consideration  is  in  his  numerous  and  variously 
valuable  writings.  Apologetic,  doctrinal  and  contro- 
versial treatises  flowed  from  his  hand  in  rapid  succession. 
Of  these  Broadus  says,1  "  The  writings  of  Tertullian 
amply  show  that  he  was  a  born  orator.  His  penetrating 
insight  into  subjects,  his  splendid  imagination,  his  over- 
powering passion,  the  torrent-like  movement  of  his  style, 
heedless  of  elegance  and  of  grammatical  accuracy,  his 
very  exaggerations  and  his  fiery  assaults  upon  his 
antagonists,  all  seem  to  show  the  man  born  to  be  a 
speaker."  His  treatises  on  moral  and  spiritual  subjects, 
especially  the  beautiful  ones  on  Patience  and  on  Peni- 
tence, have  decided  oratorical  character.  They  read  as  if 
they  had  been  written  out  after  first  being  spoken  as 
hortatory  addresses  or  sermons. 

Like  Tertullian,  his  predecessor  and  master,  Cyprian 
(c.  200-258)  was  the  son  of  a  Roman  officer,  and  born  and 
bred  at  Carthage.  He  was  educated  for  a  teacher  of 
rhetoric,  but  was  early  converted  to  Christianity  and 
became  one  of  the  most  celebrated  churchmen  and  writers 
of  his  time.  He  was  greatly  indebted  to  Tertullian, 
though  it  does  not  appear  that  there  was  any  personal 
contact.  If  there  was  it  was  when  Tertullian  was  very 
old  and  Cyprian  very  young.  On  his  conversion  in  246 
Cyprian  gave  both  himself  and  his  means  to  Christianity. 
His  piety,  learning  and  ability,  both  in  letters  and  affairs 
were  recognized  at  home,  and  he  was  soon  made  bishop  of 
his  native  city.  During  the  Decian  persecution  he  pru- 
1Hist.  of  Prea.,  p.  45  ff. 


THE  ANCIENT,   OR  PATRISTIC,   AGE  59 

dently  retired,  but  kept  the  oversight  of  his  flock,  and  his 
letters  at  this  period  are  an  interesting  and  valuable 
body  of  literature.  Though  not  dictated  by  cowardice, 
his  retirement  was  misunderstood  and  criticized.  So  dur- 
ing the  persecution  under  Valerian  he  remained  at  his 
post  and  was  banished,  but  on  venturing  back  he  was 
martyred  in  258.  He  met  his  end  with  dignity  and  com- 
posure. 

He  was  a  theological  writer  of  marked  ability  and  im- 
portance, and  was  especially  distinguished  for  his  ad- 
vocacy of  church  unity  and  catholicity.  He  did  not, 
however,  as  is  frequently  supposed,  admit  the  papal 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  bishop,  though  allowing  great 
weight  to  that  see  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  As  in  case 
of  Tertullian  we  must  judge  of  Cyprian's  preaching  from 
his  writings.  Those  which  bear  on  Scriptural  and  moral 
subjects  may  probably  have  first  served  as  sermons.  His 
charming  exposition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,1  for  example, 
has  many  homiletical  excellences,  and  reads  much  like  a 
reproduced  address.  In  his  letter  to  Donatus2  he  dis- 
cusses briefly  but  intelligently  the  difference  between 
secular  and  sacred  eloquence,  and  his  speech  is  highly 
praised  by  Lactantius,3  who  says :  "  He  had  a  ready,  co- 
pious and  pleasant  faculty,  and  that  clearness  which  is  the 
greatest  excellence  in  a  discourse,  so  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say  whether  he  was  more  ornate  in  stating, 
or  ready  in  illustrating,  or  powerful  in  persuading." 

5.    SUMMARY. 

In  closing  this  imperfect  survey  of  preaching  during 
the  important,  fruitful  but  disappointingly  obscure  age 
that  elapsed  from  the  close  of  the  work  of  the  Apostles 
in  the  first  century  to  the  great  council  of  Nicaea  in  the 
early  part  of  the  fourth,  we  may  attempt  a  brief  summary 
of  its  leading  characteristics. 

i.  There  was  profound  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the 
gospel,  and  of  its  power  to  redeem  men  from  sin.  Along 
with  this  there  was  true  earnestness  in  presenting  it  to 
the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  both  as  a  scheme  of  salva- 
tion and  as  a  rule  of  thought  and  life. 

1  Fish's  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Eloquence,  I.,  p.  36  ff. 

*  Quoted  in  Ker's  History  of  Preaching,  p.  99.  *  Ibid. 


60  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

2.  For  the  most  part  the  preaching  of  the  time  teaches 
a  pure  and  lofty  morality,   in  marked  contrast  to  the 
principles  and  practices  of  the  age. 

3.  The  preaching  is  firmly  based  on  the  authority  of  the 
Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament,  as 
a  revelation  of  the  thought  and  will  of  God;  and  is  in- 
creasingly occupied  with  the  exposition  and  application  of 
the  Word. 

4.  Of  doctrinal  preaching,  as  later  and  now  commonly 
understood,  there  was  little  if  any.     Yet  the  main  great 
teachings  of  the  Christian  system,  while  not  yet  formally 
stated,  are  with  more  or  less  clearness  held  or  implied. 
The  term  trinity  (in  Greek  trios)  has  already  appeared,  to 
describe  the  relations  of  the  three  Persons  of  the  God- 
head; man's  sinful  nature  and  need  of  deliverance  by 
Christ  are  recognized ;  repentance  and  faith  are  insisted 
on,  as  the  proper  relation  of  man  toward  God,  and  the 
means  of   securing  the  blessing  of   salvation;  and  the 
ideas  of  the  future  life  of  glory  or  of  punishment  are 
firmly  held.    Along  with  this  there  is  a  growing  concep- 
tion of  church  unity  and  universality,  and  of  the  efficacy 
of  the  ordinances,  particularly  of  baptismal  regeneration. 

On  the  whole  our  actual  knowledge  of  the  preaching 
and  preachers  of  that  age  is  confessedly  inadequate  and 
scanty.  We  are  left  largely  to  inference  and  conjecture. 
But  from  such  specimens,  traditions  and  traces  as  we 
have,  we  certainly  know  that  there  were  those  who  planted 
and  those  who  watered  in  that  obscure  early  time,  to 
whose  labors  God  gave  the  increase,  for  they  like  Apollos 
were  "  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,"  and  their  preaching 
like  that  of  Paul  "  was  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power." 

CHAPTER   II 

THE  CULMINATION   OF  ANCIENT   PREACHING   IN   THE 
FOURTH  CENTURY 

The  course  of  events  in  empire  and  church  from  the 
accession  of  Constantine(3o6)to  and  including  the  reigns 
of  Arcadius  in  the  East  (d.  408)  and  of  Honorius  in  the 
West  (d.  423)  had  profound  influence  upon  the  history 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  6 1 

of  civilization,  of  Christianity,  of  preaching.  Schaff1 
eloquently  summarizes  the  main  points  of  the  situation  as 
follows :  "  The  reign  of  Constantine  the  Great  marks  the 
transition  of  the  Christian  religion  from  under  persecu- 
tion by  the  secular  government  to  union  with  the  same — 
the  beginning  of  the  state-church  system.  The  Grseco- 
Roman  heathenism,  the  most  cultivated  and  powerful 
form  of  idolatry  which  history  knows,  surrenders,  after 
three  hundred  years'  struggle,  to  Christianity,  and  dies  of 
incurable  consumption.  .  .  .  The  successor  of  Nero, 
Domitian,  and  Diocletian  appears  in  the  imperial  purple 
at  the  council  of  Nice  as  protector  of  the  church,  and  takes 
his  golden  throne  at  the  nod  of  bishops  who  still  bear 
the  marks  of  persecution.  The  despised  sect,  which,  like 
its  Founder  in  the  days  of  his  humiliation,  had  not 
where  to  lay  its  head,  is  raised  to  sovereign  authority 
in  the  state,  enters  into  the  prerogatives  of  the  pagan 
priesthood,  grows  rich  and  powerful,  builds  countless 
churches  out  of  the  stones  of  idol  temples  to  the  honor 
of  Christ  and  his  martyrs,  employs  the  wisdom  of  Greece 
and  Rome  to  vindicate  the  foolishness  of  the  cross,  exerts 
a  molding  power  upon  civil  legislation,  rules  the  national 
life,  and  leads  off  the  history  of  the  world."  These  are 
no  extravagant  words,  but  a  sound,  if  glowing,  statement 
of  the  facts. 

The  troubled  reigns  of  the  sons  of  Constantine  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  brief  and  ineffectual  reaction 
toward  paganism  under  their  cousin  the  emperor  Julian, 
commonly  known  as  the  Apostate,  because  he  hated  Chris- 
tianity and  tried  to  re-establish  the  old  heathen  religion 
in  the  empire.  This  he  did  not  try  to  do  by  persecu- 
tion, however,  but  by  ridicule,  social  contempt,  and 
various  other  ways.  But  the  effort  to  revive  heathenism 
came  too  late.  Julian's  successor,  Jovian,  was  a  Christian, 
and  in  his  brief  reign  restored  imperial  favor  to  Christi- 
anity. This  was  true  of  Valentinian  also  and  his  succes- 
sors. Valens,  associated  with  Valentinian,  and  emperor 
of  the  East,  favored  the  Arian  party  and  thus  caused 
much  trouble.  Theodosius  the  Great,  called  to  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  East  on  the  death  of  Valens,  favored 
orthodoxy,  or  the  Athanasian  party.  He  was  a  great  and 
*Hist.  of  the  Christian  Church,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  4,  5- 


62  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

capable  ruler,  with  some  serious  faults  of  character,  but 
according  to  his  light  a  sincere  Christian.  After  him  the 
empire  was  finally  divided,  his  two  weak  sons  being  his 
successors,  Arcadius  in  the  East,  Honorius  in  the  West. 
Under  these  degenerate  princes  affairs  went  sadly 
enough.  The  western  empire  was  tottering  to  its  fall, 
while  in  the  East  corruption,  luxury,  effeminacy  and  de- 
cay were  rife.  And  while  the  Goths  without  and  decay 
within  were  hastening  the  ruin  of  the  old  Roman  civiliza- 
tion, fierce  controversies  were  tearing  Christianity  in 
twain.  It  was  a  strange,  fearful,  corrupt,  uneasy  age. 
Yet  in  such  a  time  as  this  lived  and  spoke  the  greatest 
preachers  of  the  ancient  Christian  world ;  for  it  is  precisely 
in  the  fourth  and  the  early  years  of  the  fifth  century  that 
Christian  preaching  in  its  ancient  development  reached 
its  culmination. 

i.    CONDITIONS   FAVORABLE  TO  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
PREACHING 

We  have  already  observed,  and  shall  have  frequent 
occasion  to  do  so  again  as  we  go  along,  how  responsive 
preaching  is  to  its  environment.  Like  every  other  great 
exercise  of  the  spirit  of  man  it  is  in  touch  with  each  suc- 
cessive age  through  which  it  works.  Hindering  and 
favoring  forces  meet  it  in  every  period,  and  it  will  de- 
cline or  flourish  as  one  set  or  the  other  are  stronger. 
When  favorable  conditions  are  in  the  ascendant  what 
would  be  serious  drawbacks  often  become  incitements  to 
higher  life  and  greater  activity.  Thus  a  pleasure-loving, 
corrupt  age  may  be  both  a  hindrance  and  a  stimulus  to 
preaching,  and  other  things  must  help  to  decide  in  each 
case  or  time  which  it  shall  rather  be.  Now  these  condi- 
tions lie  partly  in  external  affairs  and  partly  in  preaching 
itself. 

In  the  affairs  of  the  empire  and  the  church  there  came 
together  many  things  at  this  time  to  exercise  from  with- 
out a  favorable  influence  upon  the  oratorical  development 
of  preaching. 

During  the  intervals  of  persecution,  and  indeed  to  some 
extent  stimulated  by  persecution,  there  had  been  great  ex- 
tension of  Christian  power  and  influence.  The  church 
was  also  growing  in  organization  and  deepening  its  in- 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  63 

fluence  as  a  great  visible  power  over  its  own  members. 
At  the  opening  of  the  fourth  century  it  was  distinctly  a 
power  in  society  that  had  to  be  reckoned  with.  Diocle- 
tian's last  and  terrible  attempt  to  suppress  Christianity  by 
imperial  force  had  clearly  failed.  Society  and  government 
must  accept  as  an  established  institution  this  obstinate  and 
irrepressible  body  of  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  as 
the  church  forced  itself  more  and  more  into  social  recog- 
nition, all  that  concerned  it,  especially  its  worship,  must 
acquire  respect  and  dignity.  As  a  part  of  the  worship 
preaching  had  its  own  claim  to  recognition.  And  as  the 
worship  became  more  elaborate  and  attractive,  more  ob- 
served and  attended,  this  peculiar  feature  of  it  came  to 
be  a  more  formal  and  stately  affair.  The  development  of 
preaching  toward  an  oratorical  form  was  thus  an  integral 
part  of  the  general  ecclesiastical  movement. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  conversion  of  Constan- 
tine,  he  was  at  least  wise  enough  to  see  that  as  a  matter 
of  statecraft  it  was  time  to  change  the  policy  of  many  pre- 
ceding emperors.  Christianity  was  here  to  stay,  it  could 
not  be  crushed,  why  not  use  it?  Christians  were  a  nu- 
merous and  a  worthy  class  of  citizens,  why  not  give  them 
a  better  chance  ?  Was  not  their  friendship  and  aid  better 
than  their  hatred  and  opposition  ?  At  any  rate,  whatever 
his  motives,  Constantine  reversed  the  policy  of  Diocletian 
and  Galerius,  even  persuading  the  latter  to  join  him  in 
the  first  decree  of  toleration  in  311.  Two  years  later  a 
stronger  decree  was  enacted,  and  thus  in  313  Christianity 
was  the  recognized  religion  of  the  empire.  Ten  years 
more  passed,  and  in  323  Constantine  became  sole  emperor 
with  power  to  make  his  wishes  respected  throughout  the 
Roman  world.  And  in  two  years  more,  325,  we  find  him 
presiding  at  the  first  general  church  council  called  by  him 
at  the  instance  of  Christian  dignitaries  to  decide  the  great 
controversy  between  Arians  and  Athanasians  as  to  the 
divinity  of  Christ. 

With  the  exception  of  Julian,  as  already  noted,  Con- 
stantine's  successors  followed  his  general  policy,  but 
favored  now  the  Arian  and  now  the  orthodox  party  in  the 
church.  The  emperor  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
as  supreme  in  the  church  as  in  the  state.  This  brought 
a  dangerous  gift  of  political  and  social  prestige  to  the 


64  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

church  and  inevitably  disturbed  its  spirituality  and  purity, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  gave  a  certain  distinction  to  all 
the  institutions  and  characteristic  actions  of  the  church, 
including  preaching.  Attending  church  and  hearing 
preachers  became  a  social  function.  As  Broadus  aptly 
says,1  "  Fashionable  people  in  Constantinople,  Alexandria, 
Antioch,  and  hundreds  of  smaller  towns,  began  to  speak 
(so  Chrysostom  intimates)  almost  as  enthusiastically 
about  the  favorite  preacher  of  the  hour  as  they  spoke  of 
the  favorite  horse  in  the  races,  or  the  reigning  actor  in 
the  theatre." 

At  a  far  later  period  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France 
smiled  on  preaching  and  made  it  a  sort  of  pastime  to  hear 
the  great  pulpit  orators  of  that  age.  The  natural  effect 
of  this  sort  of  stimulus  in  preaching  soon  proves  un- 
healthy, but  at  first  considerably,  and  always  to  some  ex- 
tent, it  gives  the  really  earnest  preacher  a  much  desired 
opportunity  for  addressing  people  of  the  highest  con- 
sideration in  society  and  bringing  them  to  the  Saviour, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  encourages  a  style  of  speech 
adapted  to  cultured  hearers.  In  both  the  directions,  then, 
of  real  eloquence  and  of  artistic  oratory  the  stimulus  of 
social  prestige  made  itself  felt  in  fourth  century 
preaching. 

Back  of  the  special  stimulus  of  imperial  patronage  and 
social  favor,  only  brought  out  and  emphasized  by  these, 
lay  the  general  taste  of  the  age  for  oratorical  display. 
The  great  political  oratory  of  free  Greece  and  Rome  had 
long  been  crushed  by  despotism,  but  the  love  of  it  had  not 
died  out  of  the  hearts  of  the  descendants  of  those  who 
had  heard  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  and  their  lesser  fel- 
low-countrymen and  orators.  The  pleadings  in  law 
courts  offered  only  a  partial  off-set  to  the  loss  of  free 
political  oratory,  and  the  harangues  of  the  Senate  had 
woefully  degenerated.  Occasions  for  panegyrical  orations 
there  still  were,  and  this  style  of  oratory  was  still  in 
vogue.  The  public  assemblies  for  worship  of  a  now 
favored  religion  came  as  a  welcome  addition,  with  the 
charm  of  some  novelty,  to  these  older  occasions  for  popu- 
lar eloquence.  The  taste  of  the  times  required  a  certain 
brilliancy  and  rhetorical  finish,  and  in  order  to  meet  this 
demand  preaching  must  now  seek  these  aids. 
*Hist.  of  Prea.,p.  61. 


THE    ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  6$ 

Along  with  all  that  has  been  mentioned,  we  must  re- 
member that  in  the  traditional  and  accepted  educational 
system  rhetorical  studies  occupied  the  chief  place.  If 
educated  at  all  a  man  was  educated  in  rhetoric.  As  law- 
yer, civilist,  teacher,  or  man  of  letters,  one  must  needs 
have  had  training  in  oratory.  So  when  the  schools  were 
open  to  Christians,  without  persecution  or  social  disfavor, 
there  was  opportunity  for  them  to  receive  the  customary 
oratorical  training  from  the  best  teachers.  And  not  a  few 
who  had  been  trained  for  other  service  entered  the  min- 
istry. The  six  most  notable  preachers  of  the  century1 — 
four  in  the  East,  and  two  in  the  West — had  all  received 
the  best  rhetorical  culture  of  the  schools ;  and  there  were 
hosts  of  others.  Nor  must  we  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
in  the  audiences  which  heard  the  preaching  of  these  times 
there  were  many  who,  as  well  as  the  preachers  themselves, 
had  been  educated  in  the  schools  of  rhetoric.  A  few  cul- 
tured and  critical  hearers  make  their  taste  felt  more  than 
a  multitude  of  the  illiterate.  Thus  in  different  ways  the 
education  of  the  times  lent  its  powerful  aid  to  the  other 
influences  which  combined  to  produce  that  pronounced 
heightening  of  oratorical  power  which  we  see  in  the 
preaching  of  the  fourth  century. 

Besides  these  external  influences,  there  had  been  at  work 
in  the  preaching  of  the  preceding  age  certain  tendencies 
in  the  oratorical  direction  which  came  to  their  full  de- 
velopment under  the  favorable  circumstances  of  the  new 
era.  These  only  removed  obstacles  and  encouraged  and 
shaped  progress.  They  could  not  have  produced  so  great 
a  growth  and  fruitage  unless  there  had  been  life  and 
movement  within  the  sphere  of  preaching  itself.  The  line 
of  progress  lay  in  the  direction  of  the  elaborate  and  struc- 
tural discourse  as  distinguished  from  the  informal  con- 
versational homily;  There  was  a  trend  toward  the  artistic, 
scientific,  oratorical  form  of  address;  and  this  must  find 
its  goal.  The  day  for  mere  expository  or  hortatory  talks 
as  the  dominant  mode  of  presenting  and  urging  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity  upon  the  attention  of  hearers  was 
passing  away.  These  should  always  remain  as  one  of  the 
forms  of  Christian  discourse,  but  a  law  of  internal  devel- 

1  Basil,  the  two  Gregories,  John  Chrysostom,  Ambrose,  Augus- 
tine. 


66  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

opment  was  pushing  religious  oratory  on  to  relatively  as 
high  a  plane  (considering  the  times)  as  the  secular  ora- 
tions of  the  best  class  had  occupied.  Some  of  the  elements 
of  this  tendency  claim  more  specific  notice. 

Attention  was  called  in  our  study  of  the  earlier  part  of 
the  period1  to  the  gradual  settling  of  the  canon  of  Scrip- 
ture. From  the  books  enumerated  by  Eusebius  as  re- 
ceived by  all,  and  even  from  those  still  disputed  by  some 
though  received  by  many,  we  see  that  early  in  the  fourth 
century  the  entire  New  Testament  as  we  now  have  it 
had  practically  come  into  acceptance  among  the  churches 
as  being,  along  with  the  Old  Testament,  the  inspired  and 
authoritative  Word  of  God.  Under  the  lead  of  both  the 
Alexandrian  and  the  rising  Antiochian  schools  the  inter- 
pretation and  application  of  Scripture  had  now  become 
the  main  element  of  preaching;  and  especially  under 
Origen's  teaching  and  example  had  also  become  more  of 
an  orderly  discourse.  It  was  perfectly  natural  that  this 
growth  of  homiletical  exposition  should  go  on  into  the 
great  sermons  which  we  have  in  the  discourses  of  Chrys- 
ostom  and  others  in  the  time  now  under  review. 

Another  important  element  in  the  development  of 
preaching  was  the  fixing  of  doctrine.  The  great  theolog- 
ical controversies  and  councils  of  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  were  symptomatic  of  a  tendency  toward  doc- 
trinal definition  and  uniformity  which  had  been  going  on 
for  a  long  time  before.  SchafP  remarks  that  "  in  the  de- 
velopment of  doctrine  the  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  age  is 
second  in  productiveness  and  importance  only  to  those  of 
the  apostles  and  the  Reformation."  So  great  and  close  is 
the  connection  between  preaching  and  doctrine  that  the 
discussion  and  formulation  of  the  latter  must  of  necessity 
powerfully  influence  the  former.  And  so  in  the  times 
which  we  are  now  studying  the  quickened  intellectual  in- 
terest in  some  of  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, the  sharp  discussions  of  them,  and  their  final 
authoritative  definition  within  accepted  limits  of  ortho- 
doxy, all  exerted  a  mighty  influence  upon  both  the  con- 
tent and  the  form  of  preaching.  And  the  influence  was 
decidedly  in  the  direction  of  a  more  elaborate  and  formal 
presentation  of  truth  in  discourse. 
1  Supra,  p.  40  f .  z  Hist,  of  the  Christian  Ch.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  6. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  67 

Still  another  factor  was  the  culture  of  the  ministry.  We 
have  already  observed  that  in  the  Apologists  and  Theo- 
logians of  the  Ante-Nicene  age  a  very  intellectual  and 
cultivated  class  of  men  had  begun  to  come  in  increasing 
numbers  to  the  standard  of  Christianity.  The  liberal 
policy  of  Constantine  naturally  increased  still  further 
this  accession  from  the  educated  classes,  and  the  pre- 
viously mentioned  facilities  for  education  now  held  out 
to  Christian  teachers  and  preachers  had  also  their  part  to 
play.  Along  with  this  the  now  well-established  custom 
of  having  a  special  class  of  men  for  preachers  must  be 
remembered.  So  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  existence  of 
a  specially  trained  and  well  educated  order  of  men  from 
whom,  for  the  most  part,  preachers  were  chosen  tended  to 
make  preaching  more  and  more  artistic  and  oratorical. 
The  more  culture  in  the  preachers,  the  more  rhetorical 
the  preaching,  as  a  rule. 

Thus  in  the  providential  ordering  of  events  we  see  that 
a  number  of  secondary  causes  combined  to  produce  in  the 
fourth  century  a  remarkable  outburst  of  Christian  ora- 
tory. We  cannot  be  surprised  to  find  at  this  period  one 
of  the  great  historic  culminations  in  the  character  and 
power  of  preaching. 

2.    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  FOURTH  CENTURY  PREACHING 

We  may  now  observe  in  a  summary  way  the  lead- 
ing features  of  the  preaching  in  this  interesting  period, 
though  some  of  them  have  necessarily  been  already 
touched  on  in  discussing  the  development  of  the  sermon. 

Among  the  outward  features  which  distinguished  the 
preaching  of  the  fourth  century  we  must  take  note  of 
church  buildings  and  other  appliances  for  worship.  In 
early  times  the  places  of  worship  were  few  and  simple — 
upper  rooms,  schools,  but  sometimes  also  the  synagogues, 
at  least  for  preaching.  In  times  of  persecution  the  places 
were  retired.  The  catacombs  near  Rome  were  resorted 
to,  and  no  doubt  secret  places  in  other  localities,  as  per- 
secution might  require.  But  in  the  intervals  between 
these  times  of  violence  and  distress  church  buildings  had 
begun  to  be  erected. 

Under  Diocletian's  fearful  persecution  many  of  the 
buildings  which  had  been  erected  in  the  calm  after  the 


68  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

outburst  under  Decius  were  destroyed.  So  one  of  the 
noteworthy  things  in  the  era  of  toleration  and  patronage 
was  the  building  of  houses  of  worship.  In  this  work  the 
emperor  Constantine  himself  set  the  example,  and  several 
churches  were  founded  by  his  mother  Helena.  The  form 
of  structure  was  somewhat  that  of  the  basilica,  or  Roman 
court-room — a  long  rectangle  with  level  floor  provided 
with  rows  of  seats.  But  there  were  modifications  of  this, 
which  some  think  were  adapted  from  the  arrangements 
of  private  houses  in  which  early  worship  was  so  often 
conducted.  Besides  the  auditorium  there  were  platforms 
or  pulpits,  and  reading  desks,  called  ambones;  so  that 
the  material  appliances  for  preaching  were  fairly  well 
developed  in  this  age. 

Sundays  and  festival  days  were  the  usual  times  of 
preaching,  but  no  doubt  there  were  also  special  occasions 
of  various  sorts  and  frequency.  From  the  earliest  times 
a  regular  part  of  the  Sunday  worship  had  been  the  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures  with  an  exhortation  following.  But 
with  the  gradual  fixing  of  the  Christian  year — especially 
the  festivals  of  Christmas,  Easter  and  Pentecost  (Whit- 
suntide),— and  with  the  increasing  reverence  paid  to 
saints  and  martyrs  on  their  days,  the  preaching  on  these 
special  occasions  assumed  more  and  more  importance.  In 
later  times,  as  we  shall  see,  many  of  the  series  of  sermons 
which  were  especially  prized  and  preserved  were  these 
festival  discourses. 

The  removal  of  the  necessity  of  privacy,  the  building 
of  large  churches,  the  social  prestige  of  Christianity,  the 
fashion  of  attendance  on  worship,  all  contributed  toward 
rendering  congregations  larger  and  more  miscellaneous 
than  in  the  former  times.  For  a  while  heathen  and  her- 
etics were  kept  in  the  outer  court,  but  the  people,  pre- 
sumably and  nominally  Christian,  occupied  the  nave,  i.e., 
central  part  of  the  building,  the  men  and  women  sep- 
arated by  partitions.  As  to  posture  the  practice  was 
perhaps  not  uniform,  and  may  have  varied  even  at  the 
same  place  according  to  times  and  circumstances,  but 
generally  it  appears  that  the  people  stood  during  preach- 
ing. The  congregations  were  apparently  not  very  or- 
derly, for  even  the  eloquent  Chrysostom  often  rebukes 
them  for  inattention.  They  shifted  about,  sometimes 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  69 

broke  out  into  applause,  and  sometimes  large  numbers 
rushed  from  the  church  at  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon, 
not  waiting  for  the  orderly  closing  of  the  service. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  both  from  natural  development 
and  from  the  new  order  of  things,  the  worship  in  this 
period  became  more  elaborate  and  ceremonious.  Its 
contents  were  enriched,  its  order  assumed  greater  fixity. 
The  place  of  preaching  was  still  just  after  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures,  with  sometimes  perhaps  a  brief  prayer 
between.  The  selection  of  the  lesson,  or  portion  of  Scrip- 
ture to  be  read,  was  not  as  yet  fixed  by  any  general  rule 
for  all  the  churches.  The  selection  seems  to  have  been 
left  to  the  bishop,1  but  it  is  not  improbable  that  in  some 
churches  there  were  at  least  the  beginnings  of  a  regular 
course  of  selections.  The  passage  read  was  frequently 
used  as  the  foundation  of  the  sermon,  or  was  referred  to 
in  the  discourse;  but  just  what  connection  there  was 
between  the  selection  of  the  Scripture  and  the  previous 
preparation  of  the  sermon — that  is,  as  to  which  influenced 
the  other — does  not  appear. 

The  growing  tendency  of  earlier  times,  to  restrict 
preaching  as  a  public  teaching  office  of  the  church  to 
bishops  and  presbyters,  may  now  be  regarded  as  fixed 
and  final  custom.  Whatever  lay  preaching  continued 
was  personal,  informal  and  outside  the  regular  work  and 
worship  of  the  churches.  It  is  not  improbable  that  her- 
etics and  minor  sects  retained  a  greater  freedom  in  this 
respect;  but  this  is  matter  of  conjecture.  The  deacons 
were  now  regarded  as  an  order  of  clergy,  but  their  duties 
in  worship  were  to  read  the  Scriptures  when  appointed 
to  do  so,  to  assist  the  bishops  in  various  ways,  and  to  aid 
in  the  celebration  of  the  ordinances  and  in  the  collection 
and  distribution  of  the  offerings.  They  were  not  regularly 
allowed  to  preach.2  This  was  the  special  privilege  and 
duty  of  the  bishops,  but  was  shared  by  the  presbyters  under 
episcopal  regulation.  The  presbyters  were  ordained  and 
appointed  to  their  charges  by  the  bishops,  and  likewise 
designated  by  them  as  preachers  for  special  occasions. 
Thus  Chrysostom  served  for  several  years  as  deacon  at 
Antioch  before  he  was  designated  by  his  bishop  as  lead- 
ing preacher  in  the  principal  church  of  the  city. 

1  See  Schaff,  Vol.  III.,  p.  470. 

"But  this  rule  was  not  always  rigidly  enforced. 


70  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

The  contents  of  the  sermon  remained  substantially 
what  they  had  been  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  age. 
As  the  Apostolic  tradition  had  now  faded,  and  the  medi- 
aeval saints'  legends  had  not  yet  arrived,  the  traditional 
is  the  least  considerable  element  of  fourth  century  preach- 
ing. The  great  work  of  Origen  and  his  school,  already 
so  often  mentioned,  shows  itself.  Preaching  is  largely 
exposition  of  Scripture,  often  on  a  short  text,  some- 
times continuous  on  whole  books  or  parts  of  books,  or 
on  subjects.  Doctrine  also  becomes  now  increasingly 
important  as  homiletical  material ;  but  with  it,  according 
to  the  personality  of  the  preacher,  is  often  mingled  some 
speculation  and  philosophizing.  The  preacher's  knowl- 
edge of  life,  of  passing  events,  of  literature,  affords 
abundant  illustration ;  and  in  some  cases,  notably  with 
Basil  and  Gregory,  illustration  is  derived  from  nature. 
The  application  is  often  close,  direct,  personal,  and  not 
infrequently  very  telling. 

Between  the  structureless  homily  or  exhortation  of  the 
early  times,  and  the  closely  articulated,  minutely  analyzed 
sermon  of  the  Scholastics  and  the  Puritans  of  later  ages, 
we  find  the  fourth  century  discourse.  Retaining  the 
Scriptural  motive  and  tone,  and  in  large  degree  the  famil- 
iarity, of  the  homily,  and  avoiding  the  tedious  division 
and  sub-division  of  the  scholastic  sermon,  the  logos,  or 
oration,  of  this  age  is  more  assimilated  to  the  classic 
models  of  oratory.  It  has  form  indeed,  but  its  bony 
structure  is  not  obtrusive.  The  delivery  was  extempo- 
raneous. Some  of  the  extant  sermons  were  written  by 
the  preacher  before  or  after  delivery — more  commonly 
perhaps  the  latter, — but  many  of  them  were  reported  by 
shorthand  writers,  with  or  without  revision  by  the  author. 
Thus  Gaudentius,  bishop  of  Brescia,1  a  contemporary  and 
friend  of  Chrysostom,  in  one  of  his  letters,  speaks  of 
certain  sermons  as  not  acknowledged  by  him  as  his  own 
because  they  were  hastily  taken  down  by  reporters  and 
had  not  been  submitted  to  him  for  correction ;  but  others 
he  had  looked  over  and  put  into  shape. 

Of  course  the  spirit  and  motive  of  these  fourth  century 
sermons  varied  with  the  individual  preachers,  as  is  ever 
the  case.  '  But  even  among  the  best  preachers  of  the  time 
1  See  below,  p.  97  f. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  7! 

there  is  too  often  apparent  the  effort  to  strike  and  please 
by  rhetorical  display  and  to  win  applause  by  popular 
utterances.  The  taste  of  the  age  called  for  more  orator- 
ical exuberance  than  is  fitting  for  the  themes  of  sacred 
discourse,  and  the  preachers  did  not  rise  far  above  their 
hearers  in  this  respect.  But  with  these  drawbacks  frankly 
noted,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  in  many  of  these  homilies  the 
mastering  desire  of  the  preacher  to  glorify  his  Lord  and 
to  win  the  souls  of  his  fellow  men.  For  the  Christian 
hearer  there  is  constant  instruction  in  the  doctrines  and 
duties  of  his  religion,  together  with  most  earnest  appeals 
and  exhortations,  rebukes  or  consolations,  as  the  case 
might  require. 

That  the  life  and  thought  of  mankind  were  mightily 
and  permanently  influenced  by  the  preaching  of  the 
fourth  century  there  can  be  no  doubt.  As  always,  much 
of  this  influence  is  intangible  and  cannot  be  expressed 
in  terms,  but  it  was  felt,  then  as  now.  The  blessing  of 
God  was  upon  the  now  unknown  as  then  unrecognized 
labors  of  many  obscure  men,  as  well  as  upon  the  known 
and  applauded  oratory  of  the  great  preachers.  Souls 
were  saved  and  edified,  society  influenced  for  good,  and 
the  better  thoughts  of  men  enriched  and  stimulated  by 
the  spoken  Word  in  this  impressive  era  of  Christian 
history. 

3.    THE  EASTERN  PREACHERS 

It  is  time  to  give  our  attention  to  some  of  the  more 
important  preachers1  of  this  great  period ;  and  they  natu- 
rally fall  into  an  eastern  and  a  western  group.  Among 
the  eastern  preachers,  though  not  especially  remarkable 
for  his  preaching,  was  the  famous  church  historian, 
Eusebius  (c.  260-340).  He  was  bishop  of  Caesarea,  in 
Palestine,  from  315  to  his  death  in  340.  He  is  chiefly 
known  for  his  exceedingly  valuable  Church  History  and 
his  extravagant  eulogy  on  Constantine.  He  was  prob- 
ably born  in  Palestine,  and  was  educated  at  Antioch 
and  Caesarea.  He  was  a  great  student  and  well  informed 
in  history  and  literature.  At  one  time  the  archbishopric 
of  Antioch  was  offered  him,  but  he  declined  the  honor. 

1  In  the  following  discussions  much  help  has  been  derived  from 
the  works,  already  named,  of  Paniel,  Lentz  and  Rothe. 


72  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

In  the  Arian  controversy  he  tried  to  hold  a  middle  course 
and  was  naturally  distrusted  by  the  extreme  orthodox 
party.  He  accepted  the  Origenistic  doctrine  of  the 
eternal  generation  of  the  Son,  and  therefore  did  not  deny 
the  proper  deity  of  Christ,  but  he  signed  the  Nicene  Creed 
with  some  reluctance.  He  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  more  than  paid  back  his  imperial  patron  in 
a  well  known  and  fulsome  panegyric.  As  bishop  he 
was  a  frequent  preacher,  but  does  not  hold  very  high 
rank  in  this  regard.  A  number  of  his  homilies  remain. 
They  indicate  knowledge  of  Scripture,  acquaintance  with 
other  literature,  a  desire  to  do  good,  a  fair  amount  of 
homiletical  skill,  a  rather  dry  style,  though  characterized 
by  the  excess  and  over-ornamentation  fashionable  at  the 
time. 

There  is  another  Eusebius,  among  the  many  who  bore 
the  name,  who  is  worthy  of  mention  as  a  preacher.  This 
was  the  good  bishop  of  Emesa,  in  Syria  (d.  c.  360),  a 
friend  and  pupil  of  Eusebius  of  Csesarea.  He  was  a 
learned  and  highly  esteemed  man.  Like  his  teacher  he 
lay  under  some  suspicion  of  Arian  tendency  in  doctrine, 
but  probably  without  justice.  He  also  enjoyed  the  im- 
perial favor.  A  number  of  homilies  and  some  fragments 
ascribed  to  him  remain,  but  many  of  these  are  of  doubt- 
ful authenticity.  From  these  and  the  mention  of  con- 
temporary or  later  writers  it  is  inferred  that  he  was  a 
preacher  of  more  than  ordinary  force  and  eloquence  as 
well  as  learning.  It  is  much  to  his  credit  that  in  hand- 
ling the  Scriptures  he  departed  from  the  extreme  alle- 
gorical interpretation  of  Origen  and  his  followers  and 
approached  nearer  to  the  literal  and  grammatical  exegesis 
of  the  Antiochian  school. 

The  famous  presbyter  of  Alexandria,  the  stout  and 
successful  opponent  of  Arius,  the  orthodox  Athanasius 
(296-372),  later  bishop  and  often  exiled,  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  figures  in  church  history.  He  is  so  cele- 
brated as  church  leader,  theologian,  and  defender  of  the 
Trinity  against  Arianism  that  his  work  as  preacher  at- 
tracts comparatively  little  attention.  There  are  extant 
eighteen  so-called  homilies  attributed  to  him,  but  their 
genuineness  is  seriously  questioned,  and  their  homileti- 
cal value  is  inconsiderable,  though  they  show  argumenta- 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  73 

tive  skill  and  force.  From  his  standing  and  reputation, 
and  from  his  genuine  writings,  we  easily  argue  that  his 
power  as  a  preacher  must  have  been  more  than  respect- 
able. Broadus1  says  of  him,  "  His  style  of  writing  has 
directness,  simplicity,  and  native  force,  a  vigorous  and 
manly  eloquence,  such  as  one  seldom  meets  with  in  that 
age  of  stilted  rhetoric." 

Something  over  fifty  homilies  from  this  age  are  as- 
cribed to  one  Macarius.2  There  were  two  preachers  of  this 
name,  an  elder  and  a  younger,  and  it  is  not  certain  to 
which  of  them  the  greater  part  of  the  homilies  belong, 
nor  which  to  each.  The  authorities,  however,  mostly 
assign  them  to  the  elder  man,  and  agree  on  ascribing 
them  all  to  one  author  instead  of  dividing  them  between 
the  two.  Nor  is  it  apparent  whether  any  relationship 
existed  between  the  two  men.  The  elder  (c.  300-375) 
was  abbot  of  a  convent  in  Egypt,  and  the  character  of 
the  sermons  agrees  with  that  fact;  for  they  are  mostly 
sermons  to  monks  inculcating  the  monastic  virtues.  Pan- 
iel3  thinks  that  if  the  author  had  led  an  active  life  among 
men  he  would  have  been  a  great  preacher,  for  these 
homilies  show  warmth,  earnestness,  and  an  oratorical 
nature.  Macarius  also  has  an  interest  for  us  in  being 
one  of  the  earliest  preachers  in  whom  we  find  traces  of 
that  devout  mysticism4  which  was  to  form  so  prominent 
a  characteristic  of  mediaeval  and  later  preaching.  "  His 
homilies  have  been  appealed  to  by  modern  theopathetic 
mystics  as  an  authority  for  Quietism.  He  teaches  per- 
fectionist doctrine."5  Nebe  says  that  Gottfried  Arnold 
translated  Macarius'  homilies  into  German,  and  they  were 
highly  esteemed  by  the  Pietists.  But  he  does  not  agree 
with  Vaughan  that  Macarius  teaches  perfection,  absolute 
sinlessness,  on  earth. 

A  notable  preacher  of  the  age  was  Cyril  of  Jerusalem 
(c-  3I5"386).  Of  the  two  noted  fathers  who  bore  the 
name  of  Cyril  the  earlier  and  better  was  born  probably 
at  or  near  Jerusalem  about  the  year  315.  When  about 

1  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  63. 

2  Besides    Paniel    and    others     see    especially    Nebe,    Zur    Ge- 
schichte  der  Predigt,  for  a  good  discussion  of  Macarius.  Bd.  I., 
SS.  84  ff.  *  Op.  cit.,  S.  398  f. 

4  Vaughan,  Hours  with  the  Mystics,  Vol.  I.,  p.  ill. 
6  Vaughan,  /.  c.;  and  Nebe,  op.  cit.,  S.  86,  et  passim. 


74  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

thirty  years  old  he  was  appointed  presbyter  at  Jerusalem, 
and  was  especially  charged  with  the  duty  of  instructing 
the  catechumens  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  baptism. 
An  interesting  and  valuable  series  of  these  catechetical 
lectures  remain.  They  are  really  homilies,  and  besides 
shedding  some  light  on  the  views  and  practices  of  the 
time  and  place  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  they  afford 
evidence  of  the  preacher's  art  and  spirit.  Besides  giving 
these  lectures  to  candidates  for  baptism  Cyril  preached 
often  to  the  congregation.  One  of  his  remaining  ser- 
mons is  on  the  healing  of  the  impotent  man  at  Bethesda. 
Paniel  criticises  it  as  full  of  digressions,  parentheses, 
allegorizing — all  indicating  a  youthful  author.  In  350 
Cyril  was  elected  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  Owing  to  per- 
sonal and  doctrinal  controversies  he  was  twice  deposed 
and  reinstated.  His  condemnations  were  very  probably 
unjust  Toward  the  close  of  his  life  he  was  greatly 
honored  and  loved  as  one  who  had  suffered  for  the 
truth's  sake. 

Sometime  during  the  fourth  century,  probably  the 
latter  part,  there  lived  and  labored  at  Amasea  in  Pontus 
a  bishop  called  Asterius.  Little  or  nothing  is  certainly 
known  of  his  life.  It  is  inferred  from  some  allusions 
in  his  sermons  that  he  lived  in  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Julian,  but  how  long  before  or  after  that  short  reign 
(361-363)  does  not  appear.  It  seems  that  he  was  edu- 
cated at  Antioch,  but  we  cannot  say  whether  he  was 
born  there  or  not.  He  had  a  teacher  at  Antioch,  a  Scy- 
thian, or  Goth,  who  had  been  a  slave  but  was  then  a 
freedman.  This  man  was  highly  gifted  and  well  read, 
and  under  his  guidance  Asterius  studied  the  Greek  clas- 
sics and  cultivated  his  style.  He  seems,  as  so  many  other 
good  preachers  have  done,  to  have  begun  life  as  a  lawyer, 
but  was  chosen  bishop  because  of  his  piety  and  eloquence. 
He  had  the  by-name  of  Philaretus,  "  the  friend  of  vir- 
tue." We  are  fortunate  in  having  ten  of  his  sermons  l 
which  are  accepted  by  critics  as  undoubtedly  genuine, 
besides  some  fragments,  and  a  larger  number  of  doubtful 
authenticity.  As  to  his  preaching  Paniel2  remarks  that 

'Five  of  these  have  been  well  translated  by  Professor  E.  J. 
Goodspeed,  of  Chicago  University,  and  published  in  a  handy  little 
volume,  with  an  introduction  by  Dr.  Galusha  Anderson. 

*  Op.  cit.,  S.  567. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  75 

Chrysostom  himself  need  not  have  been  ashamed  of  some 
of  these  productions ;  and  Broadus  x  says,  "  The  subjects 
are  moral  and  historical ;  he  has  fine  descriptive  powers ; 
the  style  is  marked  by  exquisite  richness  of  expression, 
and  not  overwrought.  .  .  .  Some  of  his  sermons 
could  be  preached  in  our  churches  with  little  alteration, 
and  would  be  well  received." 

An  exceedingly  engaging  personality  of  the  Nicene 
age  is  that  of  the  Syrian,  Ephraim  (c.  300-379),  or  as  he 
is  commonly  known  in  ecclesiastical  literature,  Ephraem 
Syrus.  He  has  been  described  as  "  the  most  distin- 
guished divine  orator  and  poet  of  the  ancient  Syrian 
church."  2  Owing  to  his  hymns  he  was  sometimes  called 
"  the  Harp  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  He  was  born  near  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  in  Mesopotamia,  of 
heathen  parents.  His  father  was  priest  in  a  heathen 
temple,  and  on  the  youth's  showing  inclination  to  become 
a  Christian,  drove  him  from  home.  The  boy  went  to  the 
bishop  of  Nisibis,  who  took  him  in  gladly  and  gave  him 
Christian  training.  In  company  with  this  bishop  he  at- 
tended in  his  young  manhood  the  great  council  of  Nicaea, 
and  became  a  thoroughgoing  and  orthodox  Christian. 
Settling  in  Edessa  in  Syria  about  the  year  363  he  lived 
as  a  hermit  in  a  cave,  earnestly  studying,  and  preaching 
to  his  fellow  monks.  Though  he  was  not  very  well  ac- 
quainted with  Greek  he  managed  to  have  an  interview 
with  Basil,  the  famous  bishop  and  preacher  of  Caesarea 
in  Cappadocia,  whom  he  visited  and  by  whom  he  was 
ordained  a  deacon.  He  later  evaded  being  made  a  bishop 
by  playing  David's  role  at  Gath  and  feigning  himself 
mad.  But  though  he  declined  ecclesiastical  office  beyond 
that  of  deacon  he  was  a  theologian,  writer,  poet,  and  also  a 
preacher  of  great  popularity  and  power.  He  was  faithful 
in  his  benevolent  ministrations  to  the  sick,  and  is  said 
to  have  died  as  a  result  of  his  self-denying  labors  during 
the  prevalence  of  the  plague. 

In  his  preaching  and  writings  he  used  his  native  Syrian 
tongue.  A  large  number  of  his  homilies  remain,  but  a 

1Hist.  Prea.,  p.  66. 

2  Schaff,  op.  cit.,  III.,  p.  953,  from  whom  the  account  in  the 
text  is  chiefly  derived.  See  also  several  of  Ephraem's  homilies 
in  the  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  XIII.,  p,  305  ff. 


76  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

larger  number  have  of  course  passed  away.  Photius 
says  that  he  composed  more  than  a  thousand  homilies. 
Some  are  expository,  some  controversial.  "  They  evince 
a  considerable  degree  of  popular  eloquence ;  they  are  full 
of  pathos,  exclamations,  apostrophes,  antitheses,  illustra- 
tions, severe  rebuke,  and  sweet  comfort,  according  to  the 
subject ;  but  are  also  full  of  exaggerations,  bombast,  pro- 
lixity, and  the  superstitions  of  his  age."  a 

Far  to  the  North,  a  famous  contemporary  of 
'Ephraem's,  Ulfilas  (313-383),  the  so-called  apostle  of  the 
Goths,  should  not  be  forgotten.2  It  is  said  that  he  came 
of  a  Cappadocian  family  who  had  been  captured  by  the 
Goths  in  one  of  their  raids.  But  he  was  born  among 
the  barbarians  and  his  name  is  the  familiar  Teutonic 
"  Wolf."  His  parents  taught  him  Greek  and  Christianity 
from  childhood,  and  thus  was  he  providentially  fitted  for 
his  mission  among  his  people.  In  his  thirtieth  year  he 
was  ordained  a  bishop,  and  worked  with  great  zeal  for 
the  conversion  of  the  Goths  beyond  the  Danube.  But 
persecution  drove  him  and  some  of  his  converts  south- 
ward, and  he  obtained  permission  from  the  emperor 
Constantine  in  350  to  cross  over  into  the  imperial  domin- 
ions. This  was  twenty-five  years  ahead  of  the  famous 
migration  permitted  by  Valens.  Here  for  thirty-three 
years  Ulfilas  lived,  laboring  among  the  Goths  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  as  far  as  he  could.  He  was  Arian  in 
doctrine,  and  that  accounts  for  the  prevalence  of  that  view 
among  the  Goths. 

Ulfilas  was  a  faithful,  devoted,  earnest  man,  and  a  dili- 
gent bishop.  He  therefore  must  have  preached  much, 
but  we  have  no  sermons  from  him  whereby  to  judge  of 
his  methods  and  powers  as  a  preacher.  Regretting  his 
Arianism,  we  should  yet  honor  his  fidelity  and  zeal,  and 
never  forget  his  inestimable  service  of  translating  the 
New  Testament  into  Gothic.  This  is  the  earliest  monu- 
ment of  Teutonic  literature,  and  probably  the  first  trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  made  into  a  barbarous  tongue. 

More  eminent  than  those  of  whom  we  have  been  think- 
ing was  a  renowned  trio  of  preachers  from  the  highlands 
of  Cappadocia.  On  the  hardy  people  of  this  region  the 
Greeks  had  imprinted  deeply  and  lastingly  their  civiliza- 

1  Schaff,  I.  c.  a  Article  in  Hersog-Plitt,  Bd.  16,  S.  146. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  77 

tion  and  culture.  They  are  described  as  a  rough  and 
vigorous  mountain  race,  fierce  and  treacherous ;  but  they 
have  given  to  history  some  important  characters,  among 
whom  were  none  more  famous  than  the  three  great 
preachers  and  divines  who  adorned  Cappadocia  during 
the  fourth  century.  In  the  address  of  the  First  Epistle 
of  Peter,  Cappadocia  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  countries 
in  which  lived  the  Christians  to  whom  that  general  letter 
was  written.  With  this  early  start  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  Christians  greatly  multiplied  in  the  region,  and  that 
by  the  fourth  century  (as  seems  clearly  to  be  the  case) 
there  were  great  numbers  of  them.  The  principal  city, 
Mazaca,  renamed  Caesarea  after  the  Roman  occupation, 
was  at  this  time  the  populous  and  flourishing  metropolis 
of  all  that  region.  It  was  situated  on  a  beautiful  stream, 
with  Mt.  Argaeus,  13,000  feet,  rising  sheer  and  grand 
near  by. 

The  period  covered  by  the  lives  of  Basil,  his  younger 
brother  Gregory,  and  their  friend  Gregory  of  Nazianzus, 
was  one  of  tumult  and  unrest  in  church  and  state.  The 
Christians  of  Cappadocia,  as  indeed  in  all  the  East,  were 
torn  asunder  by  the  Arian  controversy;  and  there  was 
serious  trouble  during  all  this  time,  no  matter  which 
party,  according  to  the  fluctuations  of  imperial  favor, 
might  be  filling  the  offices.  The  bishopric  of  Caesarea 
was  of  metropolitan  rank,  and  on  Basil's  elevation  to  it 
the  province  contained  fifty  subordinate  bishoprics. 

The  two  families  from  which  these  three  men  sprang 
were  of  high  social  standing,  wealth,  and  lofty  Christian 
character.  The  parents  of  Basil  and  the  younger 
Gregory  were  Basil,  a  rhetorician  and  lawyer  of  Neo- 
Caesarea  in  Pontus,  and  Emmelia,  a  Christian  lady  of 
excellent  family  from  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia.  The 
paternal  grandmother,  Macrina  of  Pontus,  was  a  noble 
Christian  woman.  The  family  seem  to  have  lived  partly 
at  Pontus  and  partly  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  where 
Basil  (and  probably  Gregory  too)  was  born.  With  so 
pious  a  grandmother — a  devoted  admirer  of  Gregory 
Thaumaturgus,  the  bishop  and  saint  of  Pontus  in  the  pre- 
ceding generation — and  mother,  it  is  not  strange  that  this 
admirable  family  was  eminent  for  piety.  Three  bishops, 
Basil,  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  Peter  of  Sebaste,  came  from 


78  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

among  the  sons,  and  there  was  also  a  distinguished  lawyer 
among  them.  Macrina,  the  saintly  sister,  to  whom  both 
Basil  and  Gregory  owed  so  much,  never  married  but  led 
the  monastic  life,  and  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  Christian 
woman  of  excellent  gifts  and  lovely  character. 

Likewise  the  family  of  Gregory  Nazianzen  was  of 
good  social  and  religious  standing.  The  father  had  an 
estate  at  a  little  village  called  Arianzus  near  to  the  more 
important  town  of  Nazianzus  from  which  this  Gregory 
has  his  surname.  Gregory's  father  was  a  Christian,  but 
in  early  life  belonged  to  an  obscure  sect  called  the  Hyp- 
sistarians,  from  which  he  was  brought  over  to  the  or- 
thodox faith  by  the  influence  and  entreaties  of  his  pious 
and  devoted  wife,  Nonna.  This  godly  woman,  like  An- 
thusa  and  Monica  in  her  own  age,  and  many  a  good 
Christian  mother  since,  consecrated  her  son  to  God  and 
brought  him  up  from  childhood  "  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord."  The  father — for  that  was  long 
before  celibacy  became  a  rigid  rule — was  bishop  of  Naz- 
ianzus for  many  years,  dying  at  an  advanced  age  in  374. 
There  was  also  a  sister,  Gorgonia,  and  a  brother,  Caesa- 
rius,  who  became  a  noted  physician  at  Constantinople. 

Turning  now  to  consider  in  more  detail  the  individuals 
of  this  justly  famous  group  we  properly  begin  with 
Basil  (329-379),  afterwards  called  the  Great.1  Born  at 
Caesarea  in  Cappadocia  in  329,  his  early  education  was 
attended  to  by  his  father,  a  well-known  rhetorician. 
During  his  childhood  the  family  seems  to  have  resided 
in  Pontus,  for  he  came  thence  in  his  youth  back  to 
Caesarea  to  go  to  school.  Here  he  first  met  Gregory  of 
Nazianzus,  who  subsequently  became  his  nearest  friend 
through  life.  After  this  he  went  to  Constantinople,  where 
he  enjoyed  the  instructions  of  Libanius,  who  was  later 
at  Anttioch  the  famous  teacher  of  John  Chrysostom.  About 
the  year  350  or  later  Basil  went  to  Athens  to  complete 
his  education.  Here  he  found  Gregory  of  Nazianzus, 
who  had  preceded  him.  While  here  the  two  young  men 
formed  an  intimate  and  affectionate  friendship  which 
with  only  one  temporary  interruption,  lasted  through  life. 
They  were  congenial  spirits  in  very  many  ways,  and  their 

1  Translations  of  his  works  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers, 
Vol.  VIII. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  79 

beautiful  and  pure  attachment  is  not  strange.  It  is 
especially  worthy  of  note  that  amid  the  temptations  and 
dissipations  for  which  college  towns  have  ever  been 
noted,  these  two,  though  not  yet  committed  fully  to  the 
Christian  life,  preserved  their  purity,  and  thus  honored 
their  Christian  nurture. 

With  longings  already  stirred  for  a  deeper  Christian 
experience,  and  with  inclinations  toward  asceticism, 
Basil  left  Athens  well  educated  and  prepared  for  the 
work  of  life.  About  this  time  his  father  died  and  he 
began  the  practice  of  law  and  the  teaching  of  rhetoric 
at  Csesarea.  But  though  successful  and  admired,  he  did 
not  put  his  whole  heart  into  the  work.  More  and  more  he 
was  drawn  toward  the  monastic  life.  He  took  a  journey 
into  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt,  studying  monastic  in- 
stitutions. On  his  return  he  gave  up  the  law,  divided 
his  wealth  among  the  poor,  and  retired  to  Pontus.  His 
widowed  mother  and  his  sister  Macrina  had  already 
gone  thither  and  were  living  in  a  cloister  with  other 
women  of  like  mind.  Near  them  Basil  found  a  spot  to 
his  liking  where  he  could  form  with  others  a  monastery. 
In  a  letter  to  Gregory  Nazianzen  he  describes  the  place 
and  urges  his  friend  to  join  him  in  this  quiet  retreat  of 
piety  and  study.  Gregory  came,  as  we  shall  see,  but 
did  not  remain  long. 

From  this  quiet  cloister  Basil  was,  much  against  his 
inclinations,  called  forth  to  active  service,  and  was  made 
a  presbyter  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia  in  364.  He 
preached  often  and  with  great  success.  In  370  he  was 
elevated  to  the  metropolitan  bishopric  of  Csesarea.  This 
made  him  church  ruler  over  a  province  containing  fifty 
subordinate  bishoprics.  He  strenuously  set  himself  to 
the  work  of  his  charge,  and  was  especially  active  against 
Arianism,  endeavoring  to  fill  the  places  with  bishops  of 
the  orthodox  party.  To  this  end  he  appointed  his 
brother  Gregory  bishop  of  Nyssa,  and  his  friend  Gregory 
bishop  of  Sasima.  These  were  obscure  towns,  and 
Sasima  was  very  displeasing  to  Gregory,  who  was  hurt 
with  his  friend  for  sending  him  to  such  a  place.  The 
emperor  Valens,  being  Arian  in  opinions,  was  minded  to 
depose  Basil,  but  for  some  reason  did  not. 

Besides    his    cares    of    administration    and    frequent 


80  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

preaching  Basil  was  active  in  benevolence.  It  was  said 
of  him  that  "  only  the  poor  knew  how  great  were  the 
revenues  of  his  bishopric."  He  founded  a  hospital — one 
of  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first  in  Christian  history — for 
the  care  of  the  indigent  sick,  chiefly  lepers,  and  often 
ministered  to  them  in  person.  A  feeble  frame,  severe 
asceticism,  and  arduous  labors  tell  the  story  of  a  life 
prematurely  worn  out.  and  he  died  in  379  in  his  fiftieth 
year.  He  was  greatly  beloved  in  life  and  deeply  lamented 
in  death.  His  funeral  was  attended  by  an  immense  con- 
course and  was  a  remarkable  demonstration  of  popular 
regard. 

As  a  preacher  Basil  had  native  oratorical  gifts,  a  very 
suitable  and  thorough  education,  and  the  inspiring  de- 
mands of  place  and  age.  Besides  all  this  he  was  a  truly 
noble  Christian  character,  earnestly  intent  on  doing  good, 
and  constantly  in  touch  with  men  in  administering  his 
great  office.  His  preaching  attracted  large  crowds  and 
pleased  as  well  as  helped  both  the  cultured  few  and  the 
uncultured  many.  He  sometimes  preached  short  ser- 
mons at  the  hour  of  noonday  rest,  and  "  artisans,  laborers, 
silk-spinners  would  crowd  into  the  church  to  listen  to 
the  discourse."  Of  his  much  praised  He.vaemeron — a 
series  of  discourses  on  the  six  days  of  creation — it  has 
been  said,  "  The  simplest  could  comprehend  them,  while 
the  wisest  admired  them."  His  clear  and  often  elegant 
style,  though  marred  now  and  then  with  the  overdone 
exuberance  of  the  place  and  time,  showed  the  traces  of 
his  education  and  taste.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature 
and  power  of  illustration  were  great.  Schaff  has  done 
well  to  call  attention  to  his  good  use  of  illustration  and 
description  from  nature.  This  was  something  new,  for 
even  the  great  classic  orators  were  deficient  in  this  re- 
spect. Basil's  use  of  Scripture  was  faulty  with  the 
strained  allegorizing  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  but  it 
is  reverent  and  telling.  Broadus1  speaks  in  especial  com- 
mendation of  his  treatment  of  moral  subjects  and  says, 
"  Amid  all  the  admirable  temperance  literature  of  our 
own  age,  I  have  seen  no  more  just  and  vivid  exhibition 
of  many  of  the  evils  of  drunkenness  than  is  given  by 
Basil  in  his  sermon  on  that  subject."  Upon  the  whole 
1  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  69. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  8l 

we  may  say  that  Basil  justly  won  the  respect  and  repu- 
tation which  he  enjoyed  in  life,  and  that  posterity  has 
accepted  and  confirmed  the  verdict  of  his  own  age  by 
giving  him  a  secure  place  among  the  great  preachers 
of  all  time. 

Among  all  the  famous  Gregories  of  Church  History 
hardly  one  better  deserves  his  fame  than  he  of  Nazianzus 
in  Cappadocia.1  Enough  has  already  been  told  of  his 
parents  and  of  his  pious  childhood.  In  youth,  up  to  his 
thirtieth  year  when  he  left  Athens,  he  received  the  best 
education  his  time  afforded  in  schools  at  Cassarea  in  Cap- 
padocia, at  Caesarea  in  Palestine,  at  Alexandria — where 
he  knew  and  revered  the  great  Athanasius — and  lastly  at 
Athens,  where  he  remained  longer  than  his  friend  Basil, 
and  where  he  was  urged,  on  completing  his  studies,  to 
remain  and  set  up  a  school.  This,  however,  he  declined 
to  do,  and  returned  home  by  way  of  Constantinople, 
where  he  visited  his  brother  Caesarius  the  physician, 
whom  he  induced  to  go  on  home  with  him  to  see  their 
parents.  Filial  as  well  as  religious  interest  prompted 
this  action.  Caesarius,  however,  though  a  Christian,  did 
not  receive  baptism  at  this  time,  but  Gregory  was  bap- 
tized by  his  father  on  this  visit  home  and  remained  there 
some  time  assisting  his  father  in  various  ways — with  his 
theological  learning  in  the  church  affairs,  and  with  his 
practical  sense  in  the  management  of  the  estate  at  Arian- 
zus.  His  heart,  however,  was  deeply  moved  toward  the 
monastic  life,  and  on  the  invitation  of  Basil  he  joined  his 
friend  at  the  secluded  place  in  Pontus,  as  already  related. 
He  could  not  have  remained  here  many  months,  for  in 
361  on  another  visit  home  he  was,  without  his  consent, 
but  with  the  approval  and  in  the  presence  of  the  congre- 
gation, ordained  a  presbyter  by  his  father.  This  sudden 
and  unexpected  elevation  to  ecclesiastical  office  was  not 
to  his  liking,  and  he  ran  away  back  to  Pontus  and  Basil. 
But  his  sense  of  duty  overcame  his  irritation  and  his 
preferences,  and  after  awhile  he  returned  home  once 
more  and  was  his  father's  assistant  (in  fact,  though  per- 
haps not  by  regular  official  appointment)  until  the  old 
man's  death  in  374.  Once  during  this  time  he  was  again 
in  retirement  for  a  season ;  and  these  fluctuations  between 
lNicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  VII. 


82  A    HISTORY    OF    PREACHING 

the  active  and  retired  life  were  frequent  and  character- 
istic. Duty,  with  perhaps  a  trace  of  ambition,  drove  him 
to  the  one,  but  taste  and  temper  inclined  him  to  the  other. 
He  once  in  his  father's  presence  explained  to  the  con- 
gregation this  conflict  in  his  mind  between  his  love  of 
solitude  and  his  deference  to  the  calls  of  public  duty. 

Within  this  period  of  his  life  also  occurred  the  strain- 
ing of  his  friendship  with  Basil.  One  way  in  which  that 
great  prelate  undertook  to  drive  out  Arianism  from  his 
province  was  to  appoint  his  friends  to  bishoprics,  and  to 
make  bishoprics  even  in  small  places  where  there  was 
special  need.  One  of  these  insignificant  places  was 
Sasima,  a  wretched  cross-roads  town,  very  undesirable 
in  every  way  and  territorially  in  dispute  between  Basil 
and  his  rival  Arian  neighbor,  the  metropolitan  of  Tyana. 
To  this  miserable  place  Gregory  was  appointed  by  his 
friend.  Whether  some  desire  to  assert  his  authority  and 
to  discipline  the  ambition  of  Gregory  may  have  weighed 
with  the  main  motive  of  Basil  in  making  this  unwise 
and  somewhat  ungenerous  appointment  we  may  not  cer- 
tainly say.  Gregory,  while  perhaps  he  did  not  much  care 
for  great  place  in  itself,  had  enough  both  of  pride  and 
affection  to  be  deeply  wounded  at  the  slight  thus  put 
upon  him  by  his  dearest  friend ;  and  while  it  appears  that 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  consecrated  as  bishop  it  also 
seems  that  he  never  actually  took  up  his  official  residence 
at  Sasima.  He  continued  to  assist  his  father  at  Nazian- 
zus,  and  on  the  older  man's  death  in  374  it  is  probable — 
though  the  matter  is  not  perfectly  clear — that  he  exer- 
cised the  office  of  bishop  there.  But  whether  this  rela- 
tion was  official  or  only  tolerated  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  continued  long,  for  soon  Gregory  was  in  retirement 
again,  this  time  at  or  near  Seleucia  in  Isauria.  Here  in 
379  the  news  of  Basil's  death  came  to  him.  Long  before, 
no  doubt,  the  temporary  breach  had  been  healed  and  a 
good  understanding  resumed  between  the  two.  On 
getting  the  news  Gregory  wrote  to  Gregory  of  Nyssa  a 
touching  and  beautiful  letter  which  .remains,  and  some- 
time later,  upon  invitation  of  the  church  at  Csesarea,  he 
delivered  his  famous  eulogy  on  Basil.1  This,  though 

1  Translation  of  portions  of  it  in  Fish,  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit 
Eloquence,  I.,  p.  67  ff. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,   AGE  83 

naturally  overdone,  is  an  eloquent  and  feeling  tribute, 
perhaps  the  best  remaining  specimen  of  the  orator's 
genius. 

In  this  same  year,  379,  Gregory  was  called  to  the  care 
of  the  little  depressed  and  scattered  church  of  orthodox 
Christians  at  Constantinople.  Under  Valens  Arianism 
had  been  triumphant  at  the  capital,  and  orthodoxy  had 
suffered.  In  some  way  this  little  flock  turned  to  the 
eloquent  Nazianzen,  and  he  was  urged  by  many  of  his 
brethren  to  undertake  the  restoration  of  orthodoxy  at  the 
imperial  city.  He  went,  and  here  within  two  years  did 
the  great  work  of  his  life.  His  success  in  drawing  con- 
gregations, building  up  the  church,  and  giving  to  the 
Athanasian  doctrine  once  again  respectability  and  power 
at  one  of  the  world's  capitals,  is  one  of  the  most  distinct 
and  notable  triumphs  in  the  history  of  preaching.  It  is 
true  that  the. reaction  from  Arianism  under  the  earnestly 
orthodox  emperor  Theodosius  aided  the  restoration,  but 
that  enlightened  monarch  recognized  the  services  of  the 
preacher  and  appointed  him  to  the  great  Church  of  the 
Apostles,  afterwards  made  famous  by  the  eloquence  of 
Chrysostom.  This  appointment  to  the  archbishopric  was 
not  regular,  as  Gregory  was  officially  still  entangled  with 
his  wretched  bishopric  of  Sasima,  or  his  assistant- 
bishopric  of  Nazianzus,  or  both;  and  so  the  action  of 
a  synod  was  needed  to  disentangle  the  affair  and  give  him 
the  promotion  in  regular  official  form.  The  great  Coun- 
cil of  Constantinople  in  381,  called  by  the  emperor  still 
further  to  pass  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ, 
gave  the  needed  opportunity.  By  this  council  Gregory 
was  formally  declared  archbishop  of  Constantinople,  and 
was  inaugurated  with  great  pomp.  But  there  was  still 
dissatisfaction  and  much  murmuring,  doubtless  empha- 
sized by  personal  reasons,  and  Gregory,  weary  of  con- 
tention and  longing  once  more  for  retirement,  resigned 
before  the  year  was  out.  On  leaving  he  preached  a 
notable  farewell  sermon  in  which  he  freed  his  mind  as 
to  the  causes  of  his  withdrawal. 

He  now  returned  to  his  old  home  at  Arianzus,  where 
he  busied  himself  with  the  care  of  his  estate,  his  corre- 
spondence, his  writings,  and  to  some  extent,  as  adviser, 
with  the  affairs  of  the  church  at  Nazianzus.  Thus  oc- 


84  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

cupied  he  spent  his  last  years  and  died  probably  about 
390. 

Gregory  Nazianzen  holds  a  high  and  firm  place  among 
the  world's  great  preachers.  Small  of  stature  and  un- 
prepossessing in  appearance,  he  had  no  majestic  presence 
to  help  out  the  flash  and  force  of  his  oratorical  genius. 
He  was  sensitive,  vain,  ambitious,  yet  struggling  with 
these  and  other  infirmities  ever  toward  the  better  things 
in  character  and  usefulness.  The  imaginative,  delicate, 
poetic  turn  of  his  mind  united  with  his  deep  religious 
feeling  and  firmness  of  doctrinal  belief,  and  with  his  ad- 
mirable culture,  to  produce  a  Christian  orator  of  the  first 
rank.  Many  specimens  of  his  eloquence  remain.  They 
are  marred  by  the  weaknesses  of  the  man,  the  oriental 
extravagance  of  his  race,  the  bad  taste  and  tawdry 
rhetoric  of  the  age;  but  in  spite  of  all  this  their  excel- 
lences are  marked.  Bishop  W.  Boyd  Carpenter1  says  of 
him :  "  Well  acquainted  with  the  sacred  Scriptures,  he 
could  reason  forcibly  and  expound  clearly,  and  his 
lively  imagination  contributed,  with  his  literary  culture, 
to  give  a  charm  and  beauty  to  his  sermons."  And  Ull- 
man,  quoted  by  Carpenter,  speaks  of  "  the  fertility  of  his 
imagination,  his  fire  and  strength,  his  rapidity  and  com- 
pactness of  thought,  his  heartiness  and  truth  of  feeling, 
and  his  occasional  loftiness  of  flight." 

Younger  by  some  years  than  his  great  brother,  Basil, 
and  the  third  son  in  the  family,  was  Gregory  (c.  335-395) 
afterwards  named  from  his  bishopric  at  Nyssa.2  Not 
much  is  known  of  his  early  life  and  training.  He  does 
not  seem  to  have  had  (perhaps  did  not  desire)  such  thor- 
ough education  as  Basil.  Yet  it  is  evident  from  his  works 
that  he  too  was  highly  cultivated.  No  doubt  his  father 
instructed  him,  and  he  himself  speaks  in  affectionate 
and  grateful  terms  of  his  debt  for  learning  as  well  as 
other  things  to  his  brother  Basil  and  his  sister  Macrina. 
He  had  some  inclination  toward  the  ministry  of  the 
church,  and  became  in  early  life  an  anagnostes,  or  reader, 
in  the  congregation,  probably  at  Caesarea.  But  he 
quitted  this  office  and  became  a  rhetorician.  This  was 
considered  a  great  lapse,  and  he  was  warmly  recalled  to 

1  Clergyman's  Magazine,  Vol.  I.,  p.  235. 

2  Translations  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  V. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  85 

duty  by  some  letters  (still  extant)  from  Gregory  Naz- 
ianzen.  He  gave  up  his  worldly  ambitions  and  though 
married — when  is  not  known — went  into  a  retired  life 
for  a  while. 

After  Basil  became  metropolitan  bishop  of  Caesarea  he 
appointed  Gregory  to  the  little  bishopric  of  Nyssa,  say- 
ing that  he  preferred  the  place  should  get  fame  from  his 
brother  rather  than  his  brother  from  the  place.  And  it 
was  a  prophecy,  for  but  for  the  man  the  town  would 
long  ago  have  been  forgotten.  This  Gregory  did  not 
take  his  appointment  as  did  the  Nazianzen.  He  was  re- 
luctant to  take  the  office — as  was  the  accepted  custom — 
but  made  no  objection  to  the  place,  and  put  himself  into 
his  work  with  zeal.  His  abilities  as  a  speaker  and  de- 
bater against  Arianism  were  exactly  what  Basil  wanted 
at  that  place  and  time.  He  was  driven,  in  376,  from  his 
bishopric  by  the  agents  of  the  imperial  government,  and 
an  Arian  was  put  in  his  place.  But  after  two  years  of 
retirement,  on  the  death  of  Valens  and  the  revocation  by 
Gratian  of  decrees  of  banishment  against  Athanasians,  he 
came  triumphantly  back.  Soon  afflictions  came  fast  upon 
him  in  the  death  of  Basil,  of  Macrina,  and  others  of  his 
family,  and  later  (c.  384)  in  that  of  his  good  wife,  ap- 
propriately named  Theosebia. 

In  381  Gregory  attended  the  Council  of  Constantinople, 
and  is  reasonably  supposed  to  have  had  great  influence  in 
framing  the  creed  adopted  by  that  body.  He  appears  to 
have  made  several  subsequent  visits  to  Constantinople, 
and  to  have  visited  by  official  appointment  several  coun- 
tries in  the  interests  of  peace  and  orthodoxy.  He  prob- 
ably lived  till  the  year  395. 

As  a  writer  and  preacher  Gregory  Nyssen  was  philo- 
sophic in  mind  and  of  strong  speculative  bent.  He  re- 
minds us  strongly  of  Origen  both  in  this  respect  and  in 
the  excessive  allegorizing  of  his  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture. He  was  a  frequent  preacher,  and  a  number  of  his 
homilies  remain.  Paniel1  thus  describes  him :  "  His  emi- 
nent oratorical  talent,  not  put  in  the  shade  by  Basil, 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  Asterius,  would  yet  be  far  wor- 
thier of  respect  if  the  Nyssen  had  held  more  in  check 
his  desire  for  clever  comparisons,  his  immoderate  allege r- 
1  Op.  tit.,  S.  543. 


86  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

X 

izing,  his  inclination  to  glittering  rhetorical  flourishes, 
his  exaggerations,  digressions  and  prolixity." 

These  three  friends  and  eminent  Christian  leaders  and 
thinkers,  often  called  "  the  Cappadocian  Cloverleaf,"  are 
an  interesting  study  in  the  history  of  the  church  and  of 
preaching.  Basil  was  the  most  restrained — or  rather  the 
least  extravagant — of  the  three.  His  was  the  better  taste, 
the  more  orderly  arrangement.  Gregory  Nazianzen  was 
the  most  impulsive  and  ardent — nervous,  petulant,  poetic. 
Gregory  Nyssen  was  the  most  metaphysical  and  specu- 
lative— keen  and  profound  in  thought.  Basil  was  the 
man  of  affairs,  the  prelate,  the  manager;  Gregory  Naz- 
ianzen was  the  man  of  feeling,  the  poet,  the  orator; 
Gregory  Nyssen  was  the  man  of  thought,  the  philosopher, 
the  logician.  All  were  great  preachers,  each  a  striking 
example  of  his  kind. 

John  of  Antioch  (347-407),  later  named  Chrysostom, 
the  Golden  Mouth,  was  the  greatest  of  the  old  Greek 
preachers.1  He  was  born  at  Antioch  in  345  or  347,  more 
probably  the  latter  date.  His  father  died  while  he  was 
yet  a  little  child,  leaving  his  mother  a  widow  at  twenty 
years  of  age.  She  was  a  rare  woman — young,  good  look- 
ing, cultured,  of  excellent  family  and  standing,  and  well- 
to-do.  Suitors  were  many  and  pressing,  and  it  is  hinted 
that  the  emperor  wished  her  to  be  married  to  one  of  his 
officers.  But  she  refused  all  offers  of  marriage  and  de- 
voted herself  to  bringing  up  her  boy.  She  gave  him  the 
best  educational  training  that  the  time  and  place  afforded. 
At  home  she  taught  him  the  religious  life,  and  for  his 
mental  culture  she  selected  the  best  teachers.  At  one 
time  he  was  under  the  care  of  the  famed  Libanius,  who 
had  also  taught  Basil,  and  that  great  rhetorician  is  said  to 
have  wished  John  to  be  his  successor — if  the  Christians 
had  not  taken  him!  Libanius  is  also  reported  to  have 

1  The  literature  on  Chrysostom  is  of  course  very  rich  in  amount 
and  value.  Besides  all  the  works  on  the  history  hitherto  quoted, 
and  others,  the  admirable  Life  by  W.  R.  W.  Stephens  is  espe- 
cially worthy  of  mention.  Of  the  many  editions  of  his  works, 
original  and  translations,  there  is  no  need  here  to  take  account. 
The  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers  series  contains  the  most 
valuable.  Of  these  the  volume  of  the  Homilies  on  Philippians  is 
edited  with  a  very  instructive  and  appreciative  introduction  by  Dr. 
John  A.  Broadus.  For  a  good  single  sermon,  see  Fish  Master- 
pieces, I.,  p.  83  ff. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,   AGE  87 

remarked,  when  he  heard  of  Anthusa's  devotion  to  John, 
"What  women  these  Christians  have!" 

John  was  educated  for  the  law,  and  actually  began  the 
practice  of  it.  A  great  career  seemed  to  open  before  him, 
but  for  the  pure  and  earnest  young  man  the  corruptions 
of  that  profession  and  of  the  worldly  life  about  him 
were  too  bad  to  be  endured.  He  gave  up  his  business 
and  prospects  and  was  on  the  point  of  going  into  a 
monastery,  but  his  mother's  persuasion  induced  him  to 
postpone  this  for  a  while,  as  it  would  leave  her  lonely.1 
He  led  a  very  ascetic  life  at  home,  and  later  (presumably 
after  his  mother's  death)  he  entered  a  monastery  near 
Antioch  where,  under  the  teaching  of  Diodorus,  he  re- 
mained for  several  years  and  carefully  studied  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

In  the  year  381  he  was  called  forth  from  this  retreat 
by  his  bishop  and  ordained  a  deacon  at  Antioch.  For  four 
or  five  years  he  exercised  this  subordinate  office,  which 
gave  him  much  contact  with  the  people — both  rich  and 
poor — and  acquaintance  with  practical  church  affairs. 
But  his  great  gift  of  speech  deserved  recognition  and 
the  world  needed  the  exercise  of  it,  so  the  bishop  of  An- 
tioch appointed  him  in  386  to  be  presbyter  and  chief 
preacher  in  the  leading  church  of  his  native  city.  Here 
he  exercised  his  brilliant  ministry  for  about  twelve  years. 
He  soon  became  the  most  popular  preacher  of  the  city 
and  of  the  age.  His  fame  spread  far  and  wide.  During 
this  time  there  was  a  serious  sedition  at  Antioch  over  the 
taxes,  and  the  mob  in  a  frenzy  mutilated  the  statues  of 
the  emperor,  the  empress,  and  their  sons.  Theodosius, 
though  a  Christian,  had  a  fierce  temper  which  sometimes 
broke  all  bounds;  and  the  people  of  Antioch  on  reflec- 
tion knew  that  they  had  much  to  fear  from  the  emperor's 
wrath.  They  sent  a  deputation  headed  by  the  aged 
bishop  Flavian  to  Constantinople  to  apologize  for  the 
affront  and  sue  for  imperial  clemency.  In  this  interval 
of  popular  suspense  Chrysostom  delivered  the  famous 
series  of  twenty-one  homilies  "  On  the  Statues,"  which 
have  come  down  to  us.  The  sermons,  so  opportune  and 
earnest,  had  a  great  effect,  and  remain  as  admirable 
specimens  of  his  genius. 

1  Chrysostom  himself  gives  a  feeling  account  of  this  interview 
in  his  treatise  On  the  Priesthood,  Bk.  II.,  Ch.  2. 


88  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

Stephens,  in  his  valuable  Life  of  Chrysostom,  gives 
the  following  vivid  account  of  the  occasion :  "  During 
the  absence  of  Flavian  all  the  powers  of  Chrysostom  as 
an  orator,  a  pastor,  and  a  citizen  were  called  forth  in 
attempting  to  calm  the  fears  and  revive  the  deeply  de- 
jected spirits  of  the  people.  Perseveringly  did  he  dis- 
charge this  anxious  and  laborious  task ;  almost  every  day 
for  twenty-two  days  that  small  figure  was  to  be  seen 
either  sitting  in  the  ambo,  from  which  he  sometimes 
preached  on  account  of  his  diminutive  stature,  or  stand- 
ing on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  the  preacher's  usual  place ; 
and  day  after  day  the  crowds  increased  which  came  to 
listen  to  the  stream  of  golden  eloquence  which  he  poured 
forth.  With  all  the  versatility  of  a  consummate  artist 
he  moved  from  point  to  point.  Sometimes  a  picture  of 
the  city's  agony  melted  his  hearers  to  tears,  and  then 
again  he  struck  the  note  of  encouragement,  and  revived 
their  spirits  by  bidding  them  take  comfort  from  the  well- 
known  clemency  of  the  emperor,  the  probable  success  of 
the  mission  of  Flavian,  and  above  all  from  trust  in  God." 

A  passage  from  the  second  homily  illustrates  the 
preacher's  manner :  "  The  gay  and  noisy  city,  where  once 
the  busy  people  hummed  like  bees  around  their  hive, 
was  petrified  by  fear  into  the  most  dismal  silence  and 
desolation;  the  wealthier  inhabitants  had  fled  into  the 
country,  those  who  remained  shut  themselves  up  in  their 
houses,  as  if  the  town  had  been  in  a  state  of  siege.  If 
any  one  ventured  into  the  market-place,  where  once  the 
multitude  poured  along  like  the  stream  of  a  mighty  river, 
the  pitiable  sight  of  two  or  three  cowering  dejected  crea- 
tures in  the  midst  of  solitude  soon  drove  them  home 
again.  The  sun  itself  seemed  to  veil  its  rays  as  if  in 
mourning.  The  words  of  the  prophet  were  fulfilled. 
'  Their  sun  shall  go  down  at  noon,  and  their  earth  shall 
be  darkened  in  a  clear  day'  (Amos.  8:9).  Now  they 
might  cry,  '  Send  to  the  mourning  women,  and  let  them 
come,  and  send  for  cunning  women  that  they  may  come  ' 
(Jer.  9:17).  Ye  hills  and  mountains!  take  up  a  wailing; 
let  us  invite  all  creation  to  commiserate  our  woes,  for  this 
great  city,  this  capital  of  Eastern  cities,  is  in  danger  of 
being  destroyed  out  of  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and  there 
is  no  man  to  help  her,  for  the  emperor,  who  has  no  equal 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  89 

among  men,  has  been  insulted;  therefore  let  us  take 
refuge  with  the  King  who  is  above,  and  summon  him  to 
our  aid." 

The  homilies,  however,  were  not  only  eloquent,  but 
most  timely  and  effective,  so  that  thousands  were  by  their 
means  brought  to  better  thoughts.  The  preacher  bore 
down  upon  the  vices  and  sins  which  marred  the  city;  he 
complained  that  the  people  feared  the  wrath  of  the  em- 
peror more  than  the  wrath  of  God,  and  dreaded  death 
more  than  sin.  Altogether  these  Statue  Homilies  are  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  series  of  discourses  in  the  litera- 
ture of  the  pulpit.  With  them  Chrysostom's  fame  and 
power  reached  their  height  in  the  city  of  his  birth.  But 
he  was  not  to  spend  his  life  there. 

After  some  years  the  archbishopric  of  Constantinople 
fell  vacant,  and  there  was  a  scramble  of  eager  aspirants 
for  the  place.  Among  these  was  Theophilus,  the  un- 
scrupulous and  intriguing  archbishop  of  Alexandria.  At 
this  time  the  weak  emperor  Arcadius,  unworthy  successor 
in  the  East  of  his  great  father  Theodosius,  was  under  the 
influence  of  one  of  the  meanest  of  his  ministers,  the  in- 
famous Eutropius.  This  man  determined  to  disappoint 
all  the  schemers  and  bring  from  Antioch  the  eloquent 
John  and  make  him  archbishop  at  the  capital.  Knowing 
that  both  John  and  the  people  of  Antioch  would  resist 
this  move,  Eutropius  resorted  to  stratagem  and  force  to 
accomplish  his  purpose.  The  preacher  was,  innocently 
on  his  part,  persuaded  to  come  outside  the  city  walls  for 
the  ostensible  purpose  of  worshipping  at  some  shrine.  He 
was  seized  by  a  band  of  soldiers  in  waiting  and  hurried  off 
to  Constantinople,  where,  with  the  requisite  formalities, 
he  was  made  archbishop  and  leading  preacher  at  the 
great  Church  of  the  Apostles ! — an  office  which  Gregory 
Nazianzen  had  peevishly  resigned  about  eighteen  years 
before  this  time. 

Here  for  a  little  over  six  years  (397-404)  the  pure  and 
devoted  archbishop  administered  with  rare  fidelity  and 
courage  his  great  trust,  and  the  eloquent  preacher  poured 
forth  the  intense  and  lofty  oratory  which  has  filled  the 
world  with  his  fame.  He  lived  the  life  of  an  ascetic, 
using  the  large  revenues  of  his  office  in  alms  and  other 
pious  works.  He  disciplined  his  venal  and  corrupt  in- 


90  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

ferior  clergy  with  an  unsparing  hand,  and  gave  attention 
without  personal  ambition  to  the  details  of  his  exacting 
and  responsible  office.  He  concerned  himself  with 
benevolences,  with  missions,  with  affairs  of  general  in- 
terest. In  his  eloquent  preaching  he  was  no  time-server, 
but  rebuked  without  fear  or  favor  all  classes  and  condi- 
tions of  men.  His  plainness  of  speech  gave  great  offence 
to  the  beautiful  and  imperious  Eudoxia,  the  worldly  con- 
sort of  Arcadius.  This  hatred  of  the  empress  and  the 
envy  and  anger  of  many  of  the  clergy  were  the  causes 
of  Chrysostom's  deposition  and  banishment. 

Under  the  lead  of  the  infamous  Theophilus  of  Alex- 
andria, and  no  doubt  at  Eudoxia's  instigation,  a  synod 
was  hastily  called  at  The  Oak,  a  suburb  of  Chalcedon 
across  the  strait,  to  consider  charges  against  the  arch- 
bishop. A  formidable  list  of  charges  was  made  out — 
about  forty  in  number.  Many  of  them  were  trivial,  most 
of  them  utterly  false,  some  with  just  enough  show  of 
truth  to  make  them  pass — with  exaggerations  and  per- 
versions— for  the  truth.  Under  such  circumstances 
Chrysostom's  condemnation  was  a  foregone  conclusion. 
He  was  deposed  by  a  regularly  convened  and  therefore 
formally  legal  synod  of  the  church,  and  was  turned  over 
to  the  government  for  punishment.  The  empress  saw  to 
that,  and  an  imperial  decree  of  banishment  was  forthwith 
served  upon  the  bishop  by  the  military  arm  of  the  govern- 
ment. He  was  escorted  across  the  strait  and  his  enemies 
seemed  successful.  But  news  of  his  deposition  and  hasty 
banishment  flew  through  the  city — the  people  were 
roused1 — they  gathered  in  crowds — they  shouted,  "  Give 
us  back  our  bishop,"  "  We  will  have  our  bishop,"  "  Bet- 
ter let  the  sun  cease  to  shine  than  stop  that  golden 
mouth !  "  In  the  midst  of  the  popular  uproar  an  earth- 
quake came.  The  terrified  empress  quailed,  the  emperor 
gave  way,  Theophilus  took  to  flight,  and  orders  were 
given  to  bring  the  beloved  preacher  back.  But  this  could 
not  last.  The  sentence  was  not  revoked,  nor  the  enmity 
appeased.  Finally,  rather  than  be  a  source  of  schism  in 
the  church  and  of  tumult  in  the  empire  the  good  and  wise 
man  decided  to  accept  voluntarily  his  condemnation  with 
an  appeal  to  a  future  general  council.  (This,  it  is  almost 
needless  to  say,  was  never  called.)  In  order  to  avoid 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  91 

popular  disturbance  he  left  his  mule  hitched  in  the  usual 
place  near  the  church,  and  gave  himself  up  privately 
through  the  back  way  to  the  guard,  who  secretly  con- 
veyed him  across  the  Bosphorus. 

From  his  place  of  exile — Cucusus,  in  the  mountains 
near  the  border  betwen  Cappadocia  and  Armenia — he 
kept  up  correspondence  with  his  friends,  continued  to 
care  for  his  flock,  his  benevolences,  his  missions;  and 
was  much  sought  in  counsel.  As  he  thus  continued  to  be 
too  popular  and  influential  for  his  enemies,  the  authorities 
determined  to  change  the  place  of  his  banishment  to  an 
inaccessible  little  town  on  the  Black  Sea.  On  the  way 
thither  his  feeble  frame,  worn  out  with  lifelong  asceticism 
and  these  new  hardships,  gave  way.  He  died  in  a  little 
church  by  the  roadside  near  Comana  1  in  Pontus,  repeat- 
ing his  favorite  phrase,  "  Glory  to  God  for  all  things." 

Judged  by  his  character,  by  his  sermons  as  we  have 
them,  and  by  his  work  and  influence,  John  Chrysostom 
has  been  always  and  with  singular  agreement  among  crit- 
ics esteemed  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  all  time. 
Even  the  cold  and  sneering  Gibbon  gives  a  long  account 
of  Chrysostom,  and  though  not  doing  the  saint  and 
preacher  justice,  is  compelled  by  the  facts  to  accord  him 
high  praise.  Milton  in  his  Areopagitica,  speaking  of  the 
comedies  of  Aristophanes,  says,  "  Holy  Chrysostom,  as 
is  reported,  nightly  studied  so  much  the  same  author, 
and  had  the  art  to  cleanse  a  scurrilous  vehemence  into 
the  style  of  a  rousing  sermon."  Indeed  nearly  all  refer- 
ences in  history  and  literature  recognize  the  easy  pre- 
eminence of  the  man.  Some  indeed  give  him,  all  things 
considered,  the  very  first  place  after  the  Apostles.  What 
were  some  of  the  principal  elements  of  his  success? 

To  begin  with  he  had  excellent  advantages.  God 
had  endowed  him  with  rich  natural  gifts  of  mind  and 
heart — he  had  a  great  intellect,  and  the  germs  of  a  noble 
nature.  Then  he  had  the  devoted  and  intelligent  care 
of  a  pious  and  lovely  mother.  His  liberal  education  and 
early  work  at  the  profession  of  the  law  developed  his 
mind  and  gave  him  knowledge  of  the  world.  His  re- 
tired life  of  prayer  and  study  strengthened  his  spiritual 

1It  is  an  interesting-  fact  that  near  this  very  spot  many  cen- 
turies later  (1812)  died  the  devoted  missionary,  Henry  Martyn. 


92  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

life  and  made  him  master  of  the  Scriptures.  Then  he 
worked  as  deacon  for  four  years  in  the  great  city  of  An- 
tioch,  coming  in  daily  contact  with  the  people  and  with 
ecclesiastical  details.  So,  when,  a  man  of  nearly  forty 
years,  he  was  called  to  be  chief  preacher  at  Antioch  he 
had  behind  him  a  wonderfully  varied  and  complete 
preparation  for  his  work. 

Nor  must  we  lose  sight  of  the  things  that  helped  him 
in  the  work.  He  had  great  places  to  fill,  and  inspiring 
audiences  to  preach  to,  both  at  Antioch  and  Constantino- 
ple. He  had  at  his  command  one  of  the  greatest  lan- 
guages for  oratorical  purposes  that  has  ever  been  spoken 
by  man.  Nor  must  we  omit  the  important  fact  that  the 
largeness  of  his  mind  and  breadth  of  his  sympathies  in 
other  lines  of  work  helped  him  in  the  pulpit.  His  work 
with  and  for  the  people,  his  benevolent  and  missionary 
enterprises,  and  his  administrative  labors,  so  far  from 
hindering  His  preaching,  made  it  larger  in  mould,  more 
popular  in  effect.  He  was  no  bookish  recluse,  but  a  man 
of  the  people.  Their  life  and  souls  were  his  to  know  and 
direct. 

Chrysostom's  faults  as  a  preacher  were  neither  few 
nor  little.  As  great  a  man  as  he  will  have  great  faults  as 
well  as  great  excellences.  His  best  work  is  marred  by 
the  oriental  intensity  and  exaggeration,  in  feeling,  in 
thought,  in  language.  The  overmuch  was  his  snare.  In 
theology,  while  he  was  true  to  the  Athanasian  ortho- 
doxy, he  did  not  escape  the  errors  of  his  age  and  race. 
He  overpraises  alms,  celibacy,  monasticism,  as  meritori- 
ous works.  His  view  of  sin  and  its  remedy  is  more  moral 
than  evangelical.  Strong  tendency  toward  the  worship 
of  Mary  and  the  saints  appears.  Also  there  is  the  sacer- 
dotal view  of  the  ordinances.  In  brief  he  did  not  rise 
above  the  doctrinal  errors  current  in  his  day.  In  his 
preaching  itself  there  is  often  loose  and  forced  interpreta- 
tion of  Scripture.  Sometimes  he  doesn't  take  a  text  at 
all,  and  almost  never  confines  himself  to  it.  While  he 
does  not  allegorize  after  the  Origenistic  fashion,  he  does 
not  mind  twisting  a  passage  to  fit  his  homiletical  needs. 
In  the  structure  of  his  discourses  he  is  often  loose,  fond 
of  digressions  and  sallies,  sometimes  getting  back  to  his 
point  and  sometimes  not.  In  style  he  is  often  too  familiar, 
too  prolix  and  repetitious. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  93 

But  serious  as  such  faults  are,  they  serve  in  a  case  like 
his  to  set  off  great  virtues,  and  also  to  check  the  undue 
admiration  we  may  be  disposed  to  indulge.  John  Chry- 
sostom  had  from  early  childhood  a  deep,  sincere,  and 
pure  religious  character.  Piety,  earnestness,  sincerity, 
and  self-sacrifice  were  realities  with  him.  Splendid  cour- 
age, even  if  it  did  sometimes  approach  bravado,  was  his. 
He  feared  not  empress,  nor  people,  nor  his  evil-minded 
brethren.  He  spoke  the  truth  no  matter  whom  it  might 
hit.  Fidelity  to  duty  as  he  saw  it  animated  him  in  all  his 
work.  He,  too,  was  one  who  wore  himself  out  for  his 
Master. 

On  the  basis  of  such  a  character  as  this  the  more 
properly  oratorical  virtues  naturally  and  safely  rested. 
The  nameless  oratorical  instinct — the  way  to  say  here 
and  now  the  thing  that  ought  to  be  said,  the  acute  readi- 
ness to  turn  the  hap  of  the  moment  to  account — this 
was  his.  Command  of  language,  wealth  of  material, 
abundance  and  fitness  of  illustration,  fine  imaginative 
and  descriptive  powers — these,  too,  were  his.  Add  to  all 
this  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  of  human 
nature  and  of  the  art  of  applying  the  teachings  of  one  to 
the  needs  of  the  other,  and  the  splendid  equipment  of  a 
live  and  mighty  preacher  stands  confessed.  Students 
of  his  sermons  and  of  his  life  unite  in  a  chorus  of  well 
deserved  praise  of  his  oratory,  but  none  has  said  a  finer 
thing  of  him  than  his  pupil  and  friend,  John  Cassian : * 
"  He  kindled  his  zeal  in  the  bosom  of  his  Redeemer." 

4.    THE  WESTERN  PREACHERS 

The  attractive  characters  and  work  of  the  great  Greek 
preachers  of  the  fourth  century  have  detained  us  perhaps 
too  long  from  their  lesser  but  still  important  Latin  con- 
teimporaries.  But  these  may  be  more  briefly  presented, 
because  they  are  fewer  and  less  worthy  of  study  than  the 
Eastern  preachers  whom  they  imitated.  The  singular 
dependence  of  the  Latin  mind  upon  the  Greek  for  ideas 
and  for  culture  is  as  well  illustrated  in  the  history 
of  preaching  as  in  that  of  other  literature.  Not  even  the 
great  Augustine,  any  more  than  the  great  Cicero  before 

1  Quoted  by  W.  Boyd  Carpenter,  Clerg.  Mag.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  97. 


94  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

him,  was  free  from  this  unhealthy  dependence ;  and  if 
not  these  greater  minds,  how  much  less  the  smaller  ones ! 
Hence  in  passing  from  the  blooming  time  of  Greek  Chris- 
tian preaching  in  the  fourth  century  to  the  Latin  preach- 
ing of  the  same  period  we  feel  a  distinct  drop.  Yet  the 
native  vigor  and  intense  practical  turn  of  the  Latin  genius 
asserted  themselves,  and  did  not  fail  to  give  even  to  the 
imitative  work  of  the  Western  preachers  some  tinge  of 
original  power.  This  was  especially  true  of  Augustine, 
the  only  really  great  preacher  among  them,  but  shows 
itself  to  some  extent  in  the  weaker  men  who  preceded 
him.  Augustine  therefore  represents  the  culmination  of 
early  Latin  preaching,  and  our  present  survey  will  appro- 
priately close  with  him.  But  we  must  also  give  some 
attention  to  the  great  bishop  of  Milan,  Ambrose,  and 
before  him  to  a  group  of  the  earlier  preachers  of  less 
fame. 

Among  the  Latin  preachers  who  come  betwen  Cyprian 
and  Ambrose  one  of  the  most  important  was  Hilary 
(d.  368),  the  highly  esteemed  bishop  of  Poitiers.1  He 
was  born  toward  the  end  of  the  third  century  at  the  place 
which  his  own  work  has  made  somewhat  known  in 
church  annals,  but  which  the  famous  victory  of  the  Black 
Prince  a  thousand  years  later  (1356)  has  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  England.  Pictavium,  in  Aquitania,  a  prov- 
ince of  southern  Gaul,  known  in  modern  times  as  Poitiers, 
was  the  scene  of  Hilary's  birth  and  labors.  He  was  of 
good  family  and  apparently  well-to-do.  His  parents  may 
have  been  Christian,  but  this  is  uncertain.  He  had  good 
educational  opportunities,  but  was  a  little  slow  at  first  in 
his  mental  progress.  But  by  hard  work  he  secured  good 
learning.  He  studied  at  Rome  and  in  Greece.  When  he 
was  baptized,  or  how  long  before  baptism  he  had  been  a 
Christian  we  do  not  know;  but  as  delay  in  baptism  was 
then  common,  his  elevation  to  the  episcopate  in  his  native 
town  shortly  after  his  baptism  does  not  prove  a  late  con- 
version. His  piety  and  abilities  had  long  been  recognized, 
and  somewhere  between  350  and  355,  because  of  his 
learning,  his  pure  life,  his  zeal,  he  was  called  to  the 
bishopric  of  Poitiers.  He  had  been  married,  probably  in 

1  See  Paniel,  S.  697  ff.,  and  the  biography  and  works  of  Hilary 
in  Migne's  Latin  Patrology,  torn.  9,  10. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  95 

early  life,  to  an  excellent  woman;  but  his  married  state 
did  not  hinder  his  election,  as  celibacy,  though  regarded 
as  preferable,  was  not  at  this  period  enforced.  He  had 
a  daughter  Abra,  or  Apra,  to  whom  he  wrote  when 
absent  once  a  curious  letter,  still  preserved,  in  which  he 
urges  her  to  remain  unmarried,  advises  her  on  some  re- 
ligious matters,  and  sends  her  a  morning  and  an  evening 
hymn.  The  latter  is  lost,  but  the  other  is  the  beautiful 
one  beginning  Lucis  largitor  splendide,  one  of  the  treas- 
ures of  ancient  Christian  hymnody.1  For  his  zeal  against 
Arianism  he  suffered  banishment  (c.  356-361)  under  the 
emperor  Constantius.  During  his  exile,  in  Phrygia,  he 
wrote  his  treatise  in  twelve  books  on  the  Trinity,  besides 
other  writings.  He  was  recalled,  and  then  again  ban- 
ished, and  seems  to  have  ended  his  life  in  retirement 
about  the  year  368. 

He  was  sound  in  the  faith,  an  honest  and  bold  believer 
in  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  before  it  had 
been  formulated  in  the  Nicene  creed.  He  gladly  accepted 
that  instrument,  and  was  a  lifelong  opponent  of  Arianism. 
As  to  baptism  he  held  the  view  then  prevalent  that  it 
was  necessary  to  salvation,  but  on  condition  of  repentance 
and  faith.  He  believed  in  a  strict  church  discipline  and 
was  diligent  in  seeking  to  win  men  to  the  faith  in  Christ. 

In  regard  to  his  preaching  not  much  is  to  be  said.  The 
Benedictine  editor 2  of  his  works  says  that  Hilary  ex- 
pounded the  Gospel  of  Matthew  to  the  people,  and  that 
he  says  of  himself,  "  What  he  believed  he  preached, 
through  the  ministry  of  the  ordained  priesthood,  to  others  ; 
and  exercised  his  calling  for  the  salvation  of  the  people." 
Jerome  speaks  favorably  of  his  eloquence,  comparing  it 
to  the  flow  of  the  river  Rhone.  On  this  Paniel  shrewdly 
remarks  that  the  Rhone  is  a  rather  muddy  torrent!  No 
sermons  as  such  remain.  But  there  are  a  number  of 
treatises,  dissertations  (tractatus),  on  the  Psalms  which 
seem  very  clearly  to  have  been  originally  sermons  and 
afterwards  written  out  in  commentary  style.  A  glance 
at  these  confirms  the  judgment  of  Jerome  that  while 
Hilary  imitated  Origen  he  added  some  things  of  his  own. 
Along  with  some  acuteness  there  is  much  of  idle  specu- 
lation and  allegorizing.  There  is  no  eloquence,  and  the 
1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  10,  col.  551.  "  Op.  cit.,  torn.  9,  col.  165. 


96  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

style  is  not  pleasing;  but  much  reverence  for  Scripture 
appears  and  great  desire  to  do  good.  On  the  whole 
Hilary  is  more  important  as  a  churchman  and  theologian, 
but  deserves  respect  and  consideration  as  a  preacher. 

Another  Latin  preacher  and  bishop  of  this  age  is  Zeno 
(d.  380)  of  Verona.1  His  bust,  along  with  those  of  many 
other  distinguished  sons  or  citizens,  is  found  on  the  porch 
of  the  old  town  hall  at  Verona  to  this  day;  but  it  is 
hardly  a  likeness !  It  appears  that  he  was  born  in  north 
Africa  early  in  the  fourth  century,  and  was  chosen  bishop 
of  Verona  in  Italy  in  362,  filling  that  office  till  his  death 
in  380.  He  was,  like  Hilary,  a  strenuous  upholder  of  the 
Nicene  creed  and  of  church  discipline.  He  enjoyed  an 
excellent  reputation  for  character  and  works.  Some  ac- 
counts call  him  a  "  martyr,"  but  others  only  a  "  con- 
fessor," i.e.,  one  who  suffered  but  did  not  die  for  his 
faith. 

Of  his  homiletical  productions  there  remain  ninety- 
three  tractates — some  of  them  very  brief.  It  has  been 
conjectured  that  these  short  addresses  are  either  merely 
notes  of  what  was  expanded  in  delivery,  or  else  were 
additional  remarks  or  exhortations  given  by  the  bishop 
after  the  presbyter  had  preached.  He  had  some  merit 
as  an  orator — acuteness,  fancy,  considerable  rhetorical 
culture  and  skill.  He  makes  frequent — perhaps  too  fre- 
quent— use  of  illustration  and  apostrophe.  His  imita- 
tion of  the  Greek  preachers  is  plain;  and  allegorizing  is 
abundant  and  arbitrary. 

Our  knowledge  of  Pacianus,  bishop  of  Barcelona 
(fl.  c.  373),  is  very  little.2  Jerome  in  his  De  Viris  Illus- 
tribus  makes  favorable  mention  of  him  as  a  man  of  high 
standing  and  noted  for  piety  and  eloquence.  He  seems 
to  have  been  highly  esteemed  before  becoming  a  Christian 
and  bishop.  He  was  married,  and  his  son  Dexter,  to 
whom  Jerome's  book  was  dedicated,  held  high  office  under 
the  emperor  Honorius,  after  his  father's  death.  Pacianus 
became  bishop  of  Barcelona  in  Spain  probably  about  373, 
and  died  in  old  age  in  the  time  of  Theodosius,  before  392. 

Two  sermons  of  his  remain.  One  is  an  exhortation 
to  penitence.  It  is  practical  rather  than  doctrinal,  and 

1  See  Lentz,  Gesch.  der  Christl.  Horn.,  Bd.  I.,  S.  147 ;  and  Paniel, 
S.  716  ff.  *  Paniel,  S.  731. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  97 

contains  some  passages  full  of  thought  and  eloquence. 
The  other,  on  baptism,  is  not  so  good.  His  work  shows 
familiarity  with  the  classics,  good  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
and  effective  use  of  illustration.  He  resembles  Cyprian, 
whom  he  studied  with  pleasure.  He  was  evidently  a 
preacher  of  considerable  force,  and  we  can  only  regret 
the  scantiness  of  our  knowledge  of  him  and  his  work. 

In  Gaudentius  of  Brescia  (d.  c.  410)  x  we  have  again 
an  interesting  but  too  little  known  character.  Neither 
his  country  nor  the  date  of  his  birth  is  certainly  known. 
But  it  is  inferred  that  he  was  born  at  or  near  Brescia 
before  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century.  In  his  young 
manhood  he  went  to  the  East  for  travel  and  culture,  and 
spent  several  years  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia.  While 
there  his  friend  and  teacher,  the  bishop  of  Brescia,  died, 
and  Gaudentius,  at  the  instance  of  the  older  bishops,  espe- 
cially of  Ambrose  of  Milan,  was  chosen  bishop  and  urged 
by  letters  to  return.  The  usual  reluctance  was  expressed, 
but  the  eastern  bishops  were  requested  by  their  western 
brethren  to  deny  to  Gaudentius  the  communion  until  he 
should  consent !  This  brought  him  home,  and  he  was  duly 
consecrated.  He  was  required  by  the  older  bishops  pres- 
ent to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  his  own  ordina- 
tion. This  sermon  has  come  down  to  us  and  gives  the 
facts  just  mentioned. 

Among  Chrysostom's  letters  while  he  was  in  exile  is 
one  addressed  to  Gaudentius  thanking  him  for  his  interest 
in  trying  to  secure  for  the  archbishop  a  revocation  of  the 
decree  of  banishment.  The  old  man  says  that  Gauden- 
tius' effort  was  a  comfort  to  him  in  his  lonely  and 
neglected  state,  and  speaks  of  Gaudentius  as  a  friend 
whom  neither  time  nor  distance  could  estrange.  It  seems 
that  the  Italian  did  not  long  survive  his  distinguished 
friend,  dying  probably  about  the  year  410  or  later. 

Gaudentius  was  highly  honored  for  his  piety  and  elo- 
quence. A  number  of  sermons  of  fairly  sure  authenticity 
remain.  Among  his  hearers  and  friends  was  a  citizen  of 
Brescia  who  through  illness  missed  a  series  of  sermons 
that  the  bishop  was  giving  during  the  fasting  season. 
He  asked  Gaudentius  to  send  him  the  sermons  to  read, 
as  he  could  not  hear  them.  The  bishop  agreed  and  sent 

1  Paniel,  S.  771 ;  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  20,  col.  791. 


98  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

him  not  only  the  ten  fast  sermons,  but  four  other  short 
addresses  on  different  chapters  of  the  Gospels,  and  also 
a  panegyric  on  the  Maccabean  brothers,  who  were  es- 
teemed as  martyrs.  Of  these  last  he  says  that  he  would 
not  be  responsible  for  them,  as  they  had  been  taken  down 
hastily  and  he  had  not  looked  over  them,  but  the  others 
(presumably  the  ten  fast  sermons)  he  had  revised.  Be- 
sides these  there  is  the  sermon  at  his  ordination,  and 
several  others.  In  one  of  these  he  repeats  the  tradition 
that  Peter  was  crucified  with  his  head  downward,  and 
Paul  was  beheaded.  As  a  preacher  in  point  of  style, 
thought  and  oratory  he  does  not  hold  very  high  rank, 
but  is  worthy  of  remembrance. 

From  these  less  known  men  we  turn  to  the  highly 
renowned  bishop  of  Milan,  Ambrose  (340-397). l  His 
birth-place  was  probably  Treves  in  Gaul,  where  his 
father  was  pretorian  prefect,  i.e.,  governor  with  military 
and  civil  jurisdiction  over  several  provinces.  A  pretty 
story  of  Ambrose's  babyhood  is  to  the  effect  that  bees 
once  alighted  on  his  mouth  while  he  was  asleep  and  the 
frightened  nurse  being  about  to  drive  them  away  the 
father  forbade  her,  saying  that  it  was  an  omen  of  future 
eloquence — honeyed  speech.  On  the  early  death  of  his 
father  Ambrose  and  his  brother  and  sister  were  left  to 
the  care  of  their  mother.  The  family  affection  was  beauti- 
ful and  enduring.  None  of  the  three  ever  was  wedded ; 
they  were  devoted  to  each  other.  In  one  of  his  sermons 
late  in  life  Ambrose  pays  noble  tribute  to  his  brother, 
who  had  recently  died,  and  elsewhere  speaks  tenderly  of 
his  sister. 

The  family  moved  to  Rome  in  Ambrose's  childhood, 
and  he  was  educated — like  Basil  and  Chrysostom — for  the 
legal  profession.  He  met  with  decided  success  in  civil 
life.  His  fine  talent  for  government  was  soon  recognized 
and  he  was  appointed  consular,  i.e.,  civil  governor,  of 
Liguria  and  Aemilia,  with  headquarters  at  Milan.  The 
territory  was  large,  embracing  in  our  times,  besides  Milan, 
the  cities  of  Genoa,  Parma,  Modena,  and  Bologna.  Thus 
the  appointment  was  one  of  distinction.  It  is  related 

1  Authorities  already  noted  and  works  of  Ambrose  in  Migne, 
Pat.  Lot.,  tt.  14-17;  translations  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene 
Fathers. 


THE   ANCIENT,   OR   PATRISTIC,   AGE  99 

that  on  his  leaving  Rome  to  take  his  office  one  of  the  high 
officers  of  the  imperial  court  remarked  that  he  would 
fulfil  it  "  like  a  bishop."  This  only  referred  to  the  fidelity 
and  conscientiousness  which  the  man  would  carry  to  his 
task,  but  it  was  unconscious  prophecy. 

While  Ambrose  was  governor  at  Milan,  the  Arian 
bishop  died,  and  there  was  determined  effort  on  the  side 
of  the  orthodox  party  to  secure  the  election  of  a  bishop 
who  should  represent  their  views.  The  Arians  were 
equally  determined  on  their  part.  On  the  day  of  election 
there  was  fierce  contention,  and  Ambrose  went  as  gov- 
ernor to  the  church  to  quell  the  disturbance.  While  he 
was  pleading  for  peace  and  order  the  voice  of  a  child  sud- 
denly rang  out,  "  Ambrose  for  bishop ! "  The  crowd 
took  it  up.  It  was  accepted  as  the  voice  of  God,  and 
both  parties  united  on  him,  and  in  spite  of  his  remon- 
strances elected  him  on  the  spot.  He  was  only  a  catchu- 
men — had  not  yet  been  baptized,  though  long  a  Christian 
in  heart.  He  tried  to  flee,  but  was  overruled,  baptized, 
and  in  eight  days  duly  consecrated  bishop  of  Milan! 

He  took  office  in  a  humble  but  devoted  spirit,  and  feel- 
ing the  deficiency  of  his  theological  education,  went  to 
work  diligently  to  study  the  Bible  and  the  Greek  theo- 
logians and  preachers — especially  Origen  and  Basil.  He 
preached  regularly  on  Sundays  and  often  on  other  occa- 
sions. He  was  much  occupied  with  the  cares  of  his  large 
and  exacting  diocese,  and  took  great  interest  in  singing 
and  worship.  He  was  very  accessible  and  affable  as  a 
pastor  and  was  much  beloved  by  his  people.  He  was  a 
firm  disciplinarian  and  a  man  of  determined  courage. 
The  signal  instance  of  this  is  his  refusal  to  admit  the 
emperor  Theodosius  to  the  communion  till  the  choleric 
monarch  had  purged  himself  by  penance  for  the  massacre 
of  the  populace  of  Thessalonica.1  Even  the  cynical  Gib- 
bon 2  is  aroused  to  admiration  of  this  episode  in  the  life 
of  a  Christian  prelate,  and  concludes  his  account  of  it  by 
saying,  "  The  example  of  Theodosius  may  prove  the  bene- 
ficial influence  of  those  principles  which  could  force  a 

1  The  letter  he  wrote  to  the  emperor  concerning  this  is  a  model 
of  fidelity,  firmness  and  courtesy.  See  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn. 
1 6,  col.  1209. 

"Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  III.,  p.  118  (Am.  reprint  of  Milman's 
ed.). 


100  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

monarch,  exalted  above  the  apprehension  of  human  pun- 
ishment, to  respect  the  laws  and  ministers  of  an  invisible 
Judge."  In  other  ways  also  did  the  high-minded  bishop 
show  both  his  great  interest  in  public  affairs  and  the  no- 
bility and  elevation  of  his  own  character.  He  was  a 
conscientious  and  hard  worker,  and  care  wore  upon  him. 
Likewise  the  death  of  his  beloved  brother  Satyrus  fell 
upon  him  as  a  serious  blow  from  which  he  never  recov- 
ered. He  died,  not  old,  in  his  fifty-seventh  year,  397. 

Ambrose  the  man  and  bishop  is  greater  than  Ambrose 
the  preacher.  In  studying  his  sermons  and  orations  we 
cannot  help  a  feeling  of  disappointment.1  His  principal 
remains  in  the  way  of  sermons  are  his  orations  on  the 
dead.  That  (in  two  parts)  on  his  brother  Satyrus  is 
especially  good.2  It  is  full  of  love  and  grief  for  his 
brother,  but  shows  the  proper  feeling  of  one  who  is  a 
Christian,  a  pastor  and  a  teacher,  in  view  of  so  great  an 
affliction.  The  oration  on  Theodosius  is  also  notable. 
Others  of  his  speeches  and  sermons  were  worked  out 
after  delivery  and  lack  the  fire  of  actual  speech.  His 
expositions  of  the  Psalms  are  mostly  borrowed  from 
Origen,  whom,  if  anything,  he  outdoes  in  allegorizing, 
and  his  Hexaemeron  is  an  undisguised  copy  from  Basil. 
This  plagiarism  was  not  then  considered  so  great  an  evil 
as  it  really  is,  and  yet  it  remains  a  sad  subtraction  from 
the  fame  of  a  truly  great  and  good  man. 

Among  the  great  theologians  and  preachers  of  early 
church  history,  whether  considered  in  regard  to  charac- 
ter, abilities,  and  work,  or  in  regard  to  enduring  influence 
and  fame,  no  one  stands  higher  than  Aurelius  Augustinus 
(354-430). 3  He  was  born  at  Tagaste,  in  Numidia,  north 
Africa,  Nov.  13,  354.  Augustine's  father  Patricius  was 
of  good  family  and  a  man  of  some  influence  in  his  town, 
but  seems  to  have  had  a  somewhat  crabbed  disposition 
and  to  have  been  a  trial  to  his  godly  wife.  Her  influence 

1This  view  is  expressed  by  other  critics  as  well  as  by  Broadus, 
Hist.  Prca.j  p.  80.  2  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  16,  col.  1346  ff. 

*  A  great  literature  deals  with  Augustine,  yet  rather  as  man  and 
theologian  than  as  preacher.  Various  editions  of  his  works  are 
easily  accessible;  translations  .in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers. 
Paniel  hardly  does  Augustine  justice  as  a  preacher.  There  are 
more  just  and  appreciative  discussions  in  Rothe,  Lentz,  Bromel 
(Homiletische  Charakterbilder) ,  Nebe,  and  others. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR    PATRISTIC,    AGE  IOI 

and  prayers  had  their  final  reward,  and  Patricius,  long  a 
heathen,  became  a  Christian  and  was  baptized  late  in  life. 
Among  the  great  Christian  mothers  of  history  Monica 
has  a  well  deserved  respect,  and  her  grateful  and  gifted 
son  has  embalmed  her  memory  in  beauty  and  tenderness 
in  the  pages  of  his  Confessions. 

Augustine  was  sent  to  the  best  schools  at  his  home  and 
at  Carthage.  His  pious  mother  had  brought  him  up  in 
the  most  tender  and  earnest  Christian  influences,  but  as  is 
sadly  too  often  the  case,  the  temptations  of  the  corrupt 
world  about  him  proved  too  strong  for  the  vigorous  youth 
and  he  became  wild  and  dissolute.  He  tells  us  in  his 
immortal  Confessions  the  sorrowful  story  of  his  downfall 
and  his  shames.  They  need  not  be  repeated  here.  He 
ran  the  hard  way  of  the  transgressor  and  bitterly  reaped, 
in  all  his  after  life  of  remorse  and  penitence,  the  fruits  of 
his  youthful  follies  and  sins. 

He  became  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  at  Carthage.  A  pas- 
sage in  Cicero's  Hortensius  stirred  in  the  young  man  of 
nineteen  a  desire  to  seek  after  God  and  to  be  a  philoso- 
pher, and  he  gave  himself  with  zest  to  study.  From  Car- 
thage he  went  to  Rome  to  teach  and  study,  and  from 
Rome  to  Milan. 

His  philosophical  studies  brought  him  into  contact  with 
the  dualism  of  the  Manichaean  sect,  and  for  a  time  he 
was  caught  in  the  meshes  of  that  system.  But  it  proved 
after  long  trial  unsatisfactory,  and  he  was  turning  to  the 
Neo-Platonic  philosophy  in  quest  of  intellectual  and  moral 
repose.  This  was  about  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Milan, 
where  he  began  to  practise  his  profession  of  rhetorical 
teacher.  His  patient  and  faithful  mother  came  to  him  at 
Milan — probably  after  the  death  of  her  husband.  He 
also  had  with  him  his  illegitimate  son,  whom  he  had 
named  Adeodatus — strange  name  for  one  who,  though 
tenderly  loved,  was  a  perpetual  reminder  of  his  early 
manhood's  faults.  Here  at  Milan  in  his  thirty-third  year, 
intellectually  dissatisfied  and  conscience-smitten  for  his 
evil  youth,  he  came  under  the  influence  of  the  good  and 
noble  Ambrose.  He  went  often  to  hear  Ambrose  preach, 
and  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  his  mother's  faithful 
labors  and  the  bishop's  good  life  and  preaching,  he  was 
led  to  a  full  and  joyful  acceptance  of  the  Christian  faith. 


102  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

He  was  baptized,  along  with  his  son  Adeodatus,  by 
Ambrose  in  387.  His  pious  mother  lived  to  see  this  frui- 
tion of  her  hopes  and  prayers,  but  died  shortly  afterwards 
at  Ostia,  whence  they  were  soon  to  depart  for  their  old 
home  in  north  Africa.  Likewise  the  beloved  son  of 
Augustine's  youth  and  error  died  early. 

On  his  conversion  Augustine  quit  his  teaching,  divided 
his  property  among  the  poor,  and  gave  himself  up  to 
study,  reflection  and  writing.  Several  of  his  theological 
and  philosophical  treatises  belong  to  this  period.  He  re- 
turned home  and  lived  in  retirement  for  a  few  years  near 
Tagaste,  when  in  391  he  was  called  to  Hippo  and  made 
a  presbyter  by  the  bishop  Valerius.  On  the  death  of 
the  prelate  in  395  Augustine  was  made  bishop  in  his 
place.  For  thirty-five  years  he  exercised  that  office,  writ- 
ing much,  preaching  often,  administering  with  exemplary 
fidelity  his  charge,  and  living  a  life  of  true  Christian 
nobility. 

In  430  Hippo  was  besieged  by  the  Vandals  under  Gen- 
seric.  The  aged  bishop  lay  sick  and  worn  in  his  plain 
chamber,  the  only  decoration  of  the  walls  being  passages 
from  the  penitential  Psalms ;  thus  he  passed  away  August 
28,  430,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year. 

Passing  by  the  greatness  of  Augustine  as  a  theologian, 
a  controversialist,  a  writer,  we  are  here  concerned  with 
his  preaching.  He  was  very  diligent  in  this  work,  often 
preaching  five  days  in  the  week  and  sometimes  twice  a 
day.  In  his  treatise,  On  Christian  Teaching,1  and  in  his 
two  ordination  sermons,  he  gives  us  his  conception  of 
the  preaching  office,  and  it  is  a  high  and  just  one,  to 
which  he  endeavored  to  attain  himself.  He  recognizes 
both  the  honor  and  the  responsibility  of  the  office,  insisting 
that  the  preacher  must  teach  by  example  as  well  as  pre- 
cept, and  that  he  needs  the  prayers  of  his  people.  Well 
says  Bromel  of  him :  "  What  he  taught  that  he  lived,  and 
what  he  lived  that  he  taught — that  was  the  power  of  his 
preaching." 

In  his  famous  and  justly  admired  work,  On  Christian 

1  See  Bromel,  Honiiletische  Charakterbilder,  Bd.  I.,  S.  39  ff., 
who  has  a  fine  analysis  and  study  of  the  treatise  On  Christian 
Teaching.  This  is  well  translated  by  J.  F.  Shaw  in  Dods'  edition 
of  the  Fathers. 


THE   ANCIENT,    OR   PATRISTIC,    AGE  1 03 

Teaching,  Augustine  relates  an  instance  of  the  effect  of 
his  preaching.1  He  was  addressing  the  rough  Maure- 
tanians  and  endeavoring  to  dissuade  them  from  the  feud 
(caterva),  which  was  very  common  among  them.  "I 
strove  with  all  the  vehemence  of  speech  I  could  command 
to  root  out  and  drive  from  their  hearts  and  lives  an  evil 
so  cruel  and  inveterate ;  it  was  not,  however,  when  I  heard 
their  applause,  but  when  I  saw  their  tears,  that  I  thought 
I  had  produced  an  effect.  For  the  applause  showed  that 
they  were  instructed  and  pleased,  but  the  tears  that  they 
were  subdued.  And  when  I  saw  their  tears  I  was  con- 
fident, even  before  the  event  proved  it,  that  this  horrible 
and  barbarous  custom  was  overthrown ;  and  immediately 
that  my  sermon  was  finished  I  called  upon  them  with 
heart  and  voice  to  give  praise  and  thanks  to  God.  And, 
lo,  with  the  blessing  of  Christ  it  is  now  eight  years  or 
more  since  anything  of  the  sort  was  attempted  there." 
Modestly  as  this  is  told,  it  shows  what  a  power  Augustine 
must  have  sometimes  had  with  his  audiences. 

In  his  preaching,  as  in  his  Confessions,  there  was  the 
mystical  trace — the  devotion  of  a  rapt  soul,  loving  com- 
munion with  God ;  and  in  his  sermons,  as  in  his  theologi- 
cal and  controversial  writings,  there  was  stern  and  fear- 
less logic.  He  cared  not  so  much  for  graces  of  style  as 
for  depth  of  matter  and  power  of  effect.  To  convince, 
persuade,  instruct  and  win  his  auditors  was  his  supreme 
concern.  For  pithy  and  telling  sayings  he  is  justly  fa- 
mous. Though  he  had  been  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  he  was 
not  so  careful  of  order  and  decoration  as  would  have 
seemed  natural,  or  would  indeed  have  been  proper.  He 
perhaps  undervalued  these  in  his  intense  concern  to  make 
his  preaching  effective.  He  also  undervalued  immediate 
preparation,  and  often  came  to  his  pulpit  without  having 
carefully  thought  out  beforehand  what  he  would  say. 
Even  so  full,  acute,  logical  a  mind  as  his  could  not  wholly 
overcome  the  consequences  of  this  error,  and  his  sermons 
— taken  down  by  shorthand  writers — abundantly  show 
the  weaknesses  of  such  a  method. 

In  his  treatment  of  Scripture  he  follows  the  fashion  of 
his  time  as  to  the  allegorical  interpretation,  and  perpe- 
trates many  a  foolish  and  trivial  blunder  in  exegesis. 
1  De  Doctrina  Christiana,  lib.  IV.,  cap.  24. 


104  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Sometimes  he  takes  a  text,  sometimes  not ;  sometimes  he 
sticks  to  his  text,  sometimes  not.  Very  many  of  his  ser- 
mons are  expository  lectures  on  books  of  the  Bible,  con- 
tinuous and  fairly  complete.  Bromel  considers  those  on 
the  Gospel  of  John  and  on  the  Pauline  Epistles  to  be  the 
best,  but  many  on  the  Psalms  are  of  great  devotional  and 
spiritual  power.  His  sermons  deal  very  little  with  illus- 
tration, but  the  few  illustrations  he  does  employ  are  apt 
and  telling.  The  deep  earnestness  of  his  nature  and  the 
power  of  his  thought  are  the  main  elements  of  strength 
in  his  preaching.  However  mistakenly  careless  of  form 
and  beauty,  these  instinctively,  as  it  were  of  themselves, 
appear  in  his  work.  Such  a  powerful  soul  as  his  could 
not  but  express  itself  in  his  preaching,  but  he  might  have 
been  more  eloquent,  more  attractive,  and  far  more  im- 
pressive, then  and  now,  had  he  been  more  at  pains  to 
adorn  his  speech.  The  sermons  are  of  very  unequal 
length,  and  very  unequal  merit,  as  a  consequence  of  his 
carelessness  of  preparation. 

But  take  him  all  in  all  Augustine  was  the  greatest 
Latin  preacher.  While  he  lived  on  into  the  fifth  century 
for  three  decades,  his  work  and  influence  belong  really  to 
the  fourth,  and  mark  the  close  of  that  wonderful  and  fruit- 
ful epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  pulpit  which 
came  to  its  culmination  in  Chrysostom  and  himself.  The 
Greek  wave  rose  first  and  highest,  but  soonest  ebbed,  and 
never  has  flowed  again.  Since  Chrysostom  there  has  been 
no  really  great  Greek  preacher.  After  Augustine  also 
there  was  a  marked  decline  for  two  centuries,  and  a  dark 
period  for  five  more  in  the  West,  when  again  the  Latin 
pulpit,  or  rather  Western  preaching  under  Latin  aus- 
pices, rose  into  new  power  for  a  time. 


PERIOD    II 
THE    EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE 

A.D.   430-1905 

After  the  times  of  Chrysostom  and  Augustine  up  to  the  preaching 
of  the  First  Crusade  by  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Pope  Urban  II 

CHAPTER  III 

THE  DECLINE  OF  ANCIENT  PREACHING  IN  THE  FIFTH 
AND  SIXTH  CENTURIES 

We  here  take  up  the  second  general  period  as  outlined 
for  our  studies,  namely,  the  long  dark  age  which  reaches 
from  the  death  of  Augustine  early  in  the  fifth,  to  the  call 
for  the  First  Crusade  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century. 
In  the  early  part  of  this  era  the  crumbling  fragments  of 
decaying  ancient  civilization  were  mingling  with  the  crude 
beginnings  of  a  new  and  very  different  stage  of  progress 
in  human  affairs.  Vigorous  and  promising  in  many  ways 
as  these  new  beginnings  really  were,  the  thoughtful  men 
of  that  gloomy  transition  could  scarcely  detect  any  prom- 
ise of  good  in  those  forces  which  were  accomplishing  the 
overthrow  of  all  that  outwardly  represented  a  past  of 
power  and  glory.  Decay  was  the  age-token,  and  the 
feeling  of  hopelessness,  the  sense  of  defeat,  the  conscious- 
ness of  being  near  the  end  of  things,  were  only  too  com- 
mon. The  letters  and  other  writings  of  Ambrose  already 
sound  the  lament  over  a  falling  state;  and  Augustine's 
great  work  De  Civitate  Dei  found  its  emphatic  thought 
if  not  its  actual  suggestion  in  the  painful  yet  glorious 
contrast  between  dying  Rome  and  the  truly  eternal  City 
of  God.  Thus  the  evening  of  antiquity  closes  down  in 
shadows  over  Europe,  and  it  is  a  long  night  of  fitful 


106  A    HISTORY    OF    PREACHING 

sleep,  rude  alarms,  and  barbaric  orgies  that  follows,  until 
the  clarion  call  to  the  Crusades  announces  the  dawn  of  the 
mediaeval  day. 

Preaching,  too,  after  Augustine,  entered  on  a  decline 
from  which  it  did  not  recover  till  the  twelfth  century, 
and  therefore  for  these  studies  as  well  as  for  general 
history  the  terms  of  the  period  are  correctly  placed.  In 
this  chapter  we  are  concerned  with  the  preaching  of  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  but  it  will  be  well  to  take  a 
short  preliminary  glance  at  the  history  of  the  times  so  as 
to  gain  the  proper  orientation  for  our  more  specific  study 
of  the  pulpit. 

i.     GENERAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  TIMES 

Upon  the  death  of  the  great  Theodosius  in  395  the 
empire  was  divided  betwen  his  two  weak  sons,  and  there 
was  no  more  union  of  the  sovereignty  in  one  hand.  This 
division  lay  deep  in  the  different  characters  of  the  people 
east  and  west,  as  well  as  in  governmental  convenience 
and  other  things ;  and  it  had  been  maturing  for  ages.  It 
is  true  that  in  the  sixth  century  for  a  short  time  the  vic- 
tories of  Belisarius  and  Narses  brought  Italy  and  north 
Africa  under  the  sway  of  Justinian,  and  that  far  later, 
in  1204,  the  Crusaders  captured  Constantinople  and  estab- 
lished a  fleeting  Latin  sovereignty  there;  but  these  were 
episodes,  and  brief  ones.  The  racial  and  political  division 
was  further  emphasized  by  the  schism  between  the 
churches,  which  was  fast  coming  on,  but  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury was  not  yet  accomplished.  The  ancient  empire  of 
Rome  came  to  its  pitiful  end  in  this  time.  From  without 
Goths  and  Vandals,  Huns  and  Lombards,  put  the  finish- 
ing touch  to  the  age-long  inner  decay,  and  the  majestic 
old  structure  of  the  Caesars  toppled  and  fell.  Men  were 
expecting  it ;  and  though  in  itself  an  impressive  event  to 
reflection,  the  scene  which  closed  the  tragedy  was  paltry 
enough  for  a  farce.  In  476  the  last  petty  Roman  emperor, 
a  child  in  years  and  absurdly  named  Romulus  Augustulus, 
surrendered  his  crown  to  Odoacer  the  Ostrogoth,  who 
sent  what  was  left  of  the  imperial  regalia  to  the  emperor 
of  the  East ;  and  so  the  great  drama  ended. 

Not  till  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  did  the  Turks 
do  for  Constantinople  what  the  Teutons  had  done  for 


THE    EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,    OR   DARK,   AGE  107 

Rome  in  the  fifth.  In  truth,  during  the  sixth  century  the 
remarkable  reign  of  Justinian  (527-565)  shed  some  rays 
of  real  and  lasting  glory  upon  the  decadent  East.  While 
not  himself  a  man  of  the  first  rank  in  either  intellect  or 
character,  this  emperor  was  fortunate  and  wise  enough 
to  find  and  employ  men  of  genius.  The  military  exploits, 
with  the  imperfect  forces  at  their  command  and  against 
powerful  odds,  of  the  great  generals,  Belisarius  and 
Narses,  were  brilliant,  though  ineffectual  in  the  end.  More 
lasting  was  the  magnificent  work  of  the  great  lawyer  Tri- 
bonian  and  his  associates,  who  codified  the  confused  and 
voluminous  laws  of  the  empire  and  thus  rendered  dis- 
tinguished and  lasting  service  not  only  to  the  science  of 
jurisprudence,  but  through  it  to  the  general  good  of  man- 
kind. Nor  must  we  forget  Justinian's  services  to  educa- 
tion, commerce  and  art,  especially  architecture.  The 
world-famous  church  of  St.  Sophia  was  rebuilt  in  his 
reign,  and  so  pleased  was  he  with  his  work  that  on  its 
completion  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  I  have  outdone 
thee,  O  Solomon !  " 

Out  of  the  chaos  of  ruin  and  rapine  which  marked  the 
barbarian  overthrow  of  Roman  sovereignty  in  Europe 
something  like  order  slowly  emerged  in  the  establishment 
of  powers  which  eventually  became,  or  contributed  toward 
forming,  the  leading  dukedoms  and  kingdoms  of  mediae- 
val times.  In  Germany  there  was  turmoil  and  confusion, 
but  the  defeat  of  the  Huns  at  Chalons  in  451  at  least 
averted  the  menace  of  their  conquest  of  central  Europe. 
In  Italy,  first  the  Goths,  and  later  the  Lombards,  laid 
foundations  of  real  political  power.  In  Spain  the  West 
Goths  built  up  a  kingdom  which  was  a  basis  for  future 
developments.  The  Burgundian  power  along  the  Rhine 
was  important,  both  at  the  time,  and  as  a  source  of  com- 
ing events  of  great  influence  in  history.  In  Gaul  the 
Franks  under  Clovis,  and  in  Britain  the  Anglo-Saxons 
were  making  the  beginnings  of  France  and  England. 

Meantime,  amid  the  ruins  of  the  old  Roman  empire  and 
the  confused  beginnings  of  mediaeval  monarchies,  the  re- 
ligious and  secular  power  of  the  papacy  was  firmly  estab- 
lished. Henceforth  European  history  has  to  deal  with  a 
new  power  emanating  from  Rome  as  a  centre,  and  potent 
still  in  the  affairs  of  the  world.  The  inner  developments 


108  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

of  church  polity,  assisted  by  outer  events  and  forces,  had 
culminated  through  various  grades  of  bishops  in  the  in- 
stitution of  five  great  church  rulers,  called  Patriarchs,  and 
located  at  the  cities  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Alexandria, 
Constantinople,  and  Rome.  The  leading  position  among 
these  naturally  lay  in  dispute  between  the  last  two,  and 
this  became  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  schism  between 
the  Greek  and  Latin  churches.  In  addition  to  the  natural 
and  traditional  odds  in  favor  of  the  Roman  bishop  two 
circumstances  now  powerfully  assisted  in  making  him 
supreme :  one  was  that  he  was  the  only  Patriarch  for  all 
the  Latin  part  of  the  church  and  world,  the  rest  being 
all  oriental  and  Greek ;  and  the  other  was  that  the  decline 
and  fall  of  imperial  authority  and  glory  in  the  West  en- 
hanced the  position  of  the  Patriarch  of  Rome.  All  these 
advantages  were  opportunely  pressed  by  the  talents  and 
force  of  character  of  Leo  I.  (440-461),  who  not  only 
asserted  his  claims,  but  gave  them  their  enduring  Scrip- 
tural defence  by  urging  in  their  support  the  words  of 
Christ  to  Peter  in  Matthew  16:18,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and 
on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,"  etc.  In  addition  to 
this  Leo  exerted  great  influence  at  the  Council  of  Chalce- 
don  in  451,  and  helped  by  personal  pleas  to  avert  or  miti- 
gate the  horrors  of  barbarian  attacks  on  Rome  under 
Attila  and  Genseric.  After  Leo,  Gregory  the  Great 
(590-604)  did  much  to  confirm  and  perpetuate  the  papal 
authority.  In  the  hands  of  these  two  able  men,  one  near 
the  beginning  and  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  epoch  we 
have  under  review,  we  may  regard  the  papacy  as  defin- 
itely and  finally  established.  Such  were  the  main  influen- 
tial events  in  this  chaotic  but  formative  era  in  European 
history. 

2.    THE  DECLINE  OF  PREACHING 

In  an  age  like  that  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  it 
would  be  vain  to  expect  any  particular  sphere  of  human 
endeavor  to  manifest  tokens  of  vigor  which  were  lacking 
in  the  general  life  of  the  times.  Everything  had  gone 
into  a  decline,  and  preaching  could  not  be  exempt.  But 
we  must  beware  of  being  caught  in  the  toils  of  generaliza- 
tion and  concluding  that  there  was  no  preaching  at  all,  or 
that  it  was  wholly  bad.  Both  East  and  West  there  was 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       IOQ 

preaching,  and  there  were  some  preachers  of  talent,  char- 
acter, and  influence.  Yet  the  general  truth  holds  that 
it  was  an  age  of  decay.  Let  us  now  take  note  of  some  of 
the  general  and  local  causes  of  this  decline,  and  discuss 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  preaching. 

We  shall  first  notice  the  general  causes  which  contrib- 
uted to  the  decline  of  preaching  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen^- 
turies,  and  then  pay  a  little  more  particular  attention  to 
those  which  prevailed  respectively  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West. 

The  general  law  of  reaction  is  noticeable  in  the  history 
of  preaching,  as  it  is  in  other  histories.  Preaching  had 
reached  the  highest  point  of  its  ancient  development  in 
Chrysostom  and  Augustine.  Rothe  well  remarks  that  it 
could  go  no  higher  than  this  without  the  coming  in  of  a 
new  spiritual  life  and  power,  and  this  is  precisely  what 
did  not  occur.  The  reaction  was  to  be  expected,  and  it 
came  swiftly  and  sadly  enough.  This  natural  ebb-tide 
was  concurrent  with  a  rough  sea  of  storm  and  turmoil  in 
the  world.  The  times  were  evil  indeed.  Barbarism 
threatened  without  and  corruption  sickened  within  the 
church  as  well  as  the  state.  The  general  corruption  in 
morals  affected  balefully  the  lives  of  the  clergy  as  well 
as  the  laity.  Ambition,  place-hunting,  selfishness,  greed, 
and  even  worse  things  were  not  unknown  among  those 
whose  business  it  was  to  live  as  well  as  preach  the  gospel. 
Of  course  the  faulty  living  of  preachers  is  a  too  painful 
experience  of  every  age  of  preaching,  but  when  clerical 
unworthiness  gains  the  upper  hand  the  general  effect  is 
disastrous  beyond  measure.  In  a  flourishing  age  this  sore 
evil  is  a  drawback,  in  a  declining  one  it  is  an  acceleration. 
It  was  so  in  these  mournful  times.  While  there  were 
many  godly  and  true  preachers,  it  must  be  owned  that 
not  a  few  were  only  too  willing  to  be  both  in  the  world 
and  of  it. 

We  should  not  fail  also  to  take  account  of  the  growth 
of  liturgy  and  forms  of  worship.  While  these  preserved 
a  prominent  place  for  preaching  in  the  services  of  the 
church  their  effect  then,  as  too  often  since,  was  to  make 
the  spoken  word  of  far  less  relative  value  than  forms  of 
worship.  This  tendency,  while  stronger  in  later  times, 
was  already  powerful,  and  preaching  was  not  vigorous 


110  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  able  enough  to  overcome  the  trammels  of  liturgy. 
More  serious  than  this  was  the  growth  of  the  hierarchical 
spirit,  the  conception  of  the  preacher  as  priest  rather  than 
prophet.  An  acute  student  of  the  history  of  preaching  * 
has  remarked :  "  We  find  this  change,  I  think,  passing 
over  the  spirit  of  preaching  after  the  second  or  third  cen- 
tury. We  shall  see  it  reaching  its  head  in  the  Dark  Ages. 
But  perhaps  the  worst  effect  of  all  was  that  wrought  on 
the  preacher  himself,  changing  him  from  a  messenger  of 
God  into  a  petty  mediator  and  dispenser  of  God's  mercies 
and  punishments!  This  led  to  the  preaching  of  church 
discipline  rather  than  Christian  morals,  of  penance  rather 
than  repentance.  The  heart  of  the  gospel  was  too  often 
wrapped  in  the  rough  and  insipid  husks  of  externalism, 
and  it  was  more  than  the  simple  sinner  could  do  to  get  at 
the  kernel."  Along  with  this  perversion  of  gospel  preach- 
ing went  another  which  also  waited  for  its  full  develop- 
ment in  the  mediseval  sermons.  This  was  the  worship 
of  Mary  and  the  veneration  of  the  saints.  These  were 
beginning  to  be  looked  upon  as  intercessors  with  God, 
and  their  votaries  sought  their  mediation  to  obtain  divine 
grace  and  mercies.  Already  in  the  fourth  century  traces 
of  this  worship  are  seen,  and  the  development  goes  on 
through  the  fifth  and  sixth,  to  the  injury  of  a  pure  gospel 
preaching. 

Besides  these  general  causes,  which  were  operative  in 
East  and  West  alike,  there  were  some  which  if  not  wholly 
absent  from  either  locality,  were  yet  specially  active  in 
one  or  the  other.  In  the  East  the  reaction  was  apparently 
more  pronounced  than  in  the  West.  The  fall  from 
Chrysostom  was  very  great.  It  was  not  a  total  collapse 
indeed,  but  still  the  fact  remains  that  no  preacher  of 
world-wide  fame  has  appeared  in  the  Greek  Church  since 
his  day.  Account  for  it  as  we  may,  and  tone  down  the 
statement  as  much  as  possible,  there  is  no  evading  the 
essential  truth  of  the  remark.  The  reaction  was  sharp 
and  intense — it  has  been  a  long  ebb,  and  history  waits  for 
the  flow.  The  Greek  mind  seemed  to  have  done  its  best 
work  in  preaching  when  it  flowered  in  John  of  Antioch, 
and  it  fell  back  exhausted  from  that  achievement.  Imita- 
tion followed  genius.  Spontaneity  and  freshness  failed. 
1  Fleming  James,  The  Message  and  the  Messengers,  p.  IOI. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       III 

The  little  men  of  a  declining  age  usually  try  to  live  on  the 
brains  of  the  great  men  who  have  preceded  them.  But 
inexorable  history  writes  it  down  that  the  brains  of  one 
generation  are  not  sufficient  brain-food  for  the  next. 
Echoes  are  not  living  voices — only  faint  and  fainter 
tributes  to  greatness,  admired  but  departed.  If  the  bad 
taste  of  the  age  reflected  itself  in  the  faults  of  even  fourth 
century  preaching,  what  shall  we  say  of  it  as  a  factor  in 
the  decline  of  which  we  are  treating?  The  exaggeration, 
the  bombast,  the  inflated  oratory  which  marred  the  best 
preaching  of  the  Patristic  Age  are  hideous  faults  in  the 
worst.  There  was  nothing  yet  to  correct  the  taste  of 
either  hearer  or  preacher,  and  this  must  have  contributed 
greatly  to  the  decay  of  preaching.  It  is  true  that  this 
is  partly  conjectural,  for  we  have  not  so  many  specimens 
from  which  to  judge ;  but  what  indications  there  are  for- 
tify the  natural  inference. 

The  fierce  doctrinal  controversies  which  distracted  the 
Eastern  Church,  and  troubled  the  Western,  during  the 
fifth  century  must  come  in  as  one  of  the  prominent  causes 
of  the  decline  of  preaching.  The  rise  of  great  contro- 
versies in  doctrine  has  often  stimulated  preaching.  But 
the  protracting  of  controversy  into  barren  and  fine-spun 
metaphysics,  and  the  degeneration  of  manly  strife  for 
great  truths  into  personal  and  partisan  polemics,  have 
always  had  a  bad  effect.  Following  the  Reformation 
there  was  an  era  of  dogmatic  discussion  which  reacted 
unfavorably  on  preaching,  and  this  was  true  in  the  Greek 
Church  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  The  great  Arian 
controversy  of  the  fourth  century  stirred  the  preachers 
during  that  epoch  to  great  exertions.  Chrysostom,  and 
before  him  the  Cappadocians,  had  felt  the  stimulus  of  en- 
dangered truth.  But  the  settlement  of  the  Nicene  creed 
in  the  Council  of  Constantinople  in  381  had  cleared  the 
air  after  a  half  century  of  debate.  In  the  disputes  of  the 
following  centuries — marked  by  the  Councils  of  Ephesus 
in  431,  of  Chalcedon  in  451,  and  of  the  second  Constanti- 
nople in  553 — there  was  a  protracted  struggle  over  fine 
points  of  doctrine,  and  the  display  of  much  unseemly  vio- 
lence and  partisan  selfishness.  All  this  had  a  most  un- 
wholesome effect  both  on  Christian  character  in  general 
and  on  that  of  the  clergy;  and  thus  in  many  ways  these 


112  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

struggles  tended  to  lower  the  tone  and  the  effect  of  preach- 
ing. The  Greek  Church  gained  the  orthodoxy  in  which 
she  has  complacently  rested  for  a  millenium  and  a  half 
at  the  expense  of  the  very  life  of  her  pulpit. 

As  already  remarked  the  reaction  from  excellence  was 
hardly  so  marked  in  the  West  as  in  the  East.  This  was 
partly  because  there  was  not  so  much  to  react  from.  The 
oratorical  excellence  of  Ambrose  and  Augustine  is  not  so 
striking  as  that  of  the  Cappadocians  and  Chrysostom. 
Ambrose  is  but  an  echo  of  Basil,  and  Augustine  as  an 
orator  is  as  much  below  Chrysostom  as  Cicero  is  below 
Demosthenes — though  not  in  the  same  ways.  Then  the 
followers  of  the  great  Latin  preachers  are  not  so  much 
behind  their  models  as  is  the  case  with  the  Greeks.  Leo 
and  Gregory  of  Rome  are  not  so  distinctly  inferior  as 
preachers  to  Augustine  as  Cyril  of  Alexandria  and  Theo- 
doret  are  to  Chrysostom.  Yet  notwithstanding  this  cau- 
tionary comparison  we  still  must  assign  reaction  as  one 
cause  of  decline  in  the  West  as  well  as  in  the  East.  Augus- 
tine's mighty  thinking  finds  no  parallel  in  his  immediate 
followers.  Leo  comes  nearest,  but  he  is  a  great  way  off. 
It  is  a  long  journey  from  Augustine  to  Bernard,1  but 
that  is  how  far  we  have  to  travel  before  we  find  another 
very  eminent  preacher  who  uses  the  Latin  tongue,  and 
that  is  on  the  eve  of  its  displacement  by  the  new  lan- 
guages of  Europe. 

The  West  felt  more  directly  and  powerfully  than  the 
East  the  pressure  of  Barbarian  invasion.  Alaric  sacked 
.  Rome  in  410,  Attila  threatened,  but  was  defeated  at  Cha- 
lons in  451,  Genseric  and  his  Vandals  pillaged  the  city  in 
455,  and  the  pitiful  remnants  of  empire  were  surrendered 
to  Odoacer  at  Ravenna  in  476.  The  fear  of  plunder, 
death  and  disgrace;  the  despair  of  preserving  anything 
from  the  wreck  of  the  social  system ;  the  general  sense 
of  helplessness  and  dread,  were  not  favorable  conditions 
for  the  cultivation  of  eloquence,  secular  or  sacred.  The 
weakness  and  fall  of  government  also  were  depressing 
after  the  patronage  of  former  years.  This  state  of  things 
was  somewhat  paralleled  by  that  in  France  after  the  age 
of  Louis  XIV. — an  era  of  splendid  pulpit  eloquence  and 
court  patronage,  followed  by  a  long  decline, 
'Died  1153. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       113 

Leo  I.  and  Gregory  I.  are  the  founders  of  the  papacy. 
Either  one  may  be  considered  the  first  pope,  though  it 
rather  lies  upon  Gregory  to  be  so  regarded.  On  the  ruins 
of  secular  empire  came  the  papacy.  The  story  belongs  to 
general  church  history,  but  the  thing  for  us  here  to  notice 
is  that  though  both  Leo  and  Gregory  were  preachers  of 
considerable  merit,  the  growth  of  papal  government  was 
not  favorable  to  preaching.  Already  in  Ambrose  the  gov- 
erning instinct  of  the  Latin  mind  had  encroached  upon 
pulpit  eloquence.  And  Leo's  cares  of  government,  his 
efforts  to  aggrandize  the  Roman  see,  his  bold  claim  to  pre- 
eminence based  on  the  primacy  of  Peter,  his  successful 
assertion  of  doctrinal  leadership  at  Chalcedon,  and  his 
services  in  pleading  with  Attila  and  Genseric  on  behalf  of 
Rome,  while  they  showed  him  the  great  leader  and  pre- 
late, were  certainly  not  distinctive  marks  of  the  preacher. 
So  in  general  the  growth  of  the  hierarchy  and  the 
strengthening  of  prelacy  were  not  favorable  to  the  culti- 
vation of  preaching.  The  rise  of  the  mendicant  orders 
of  preachers  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  great 
preaching  of  the  reformers  in  the  sixteenth,  were  not  pre- 
latical  products. 

Along  with  this  we  must  emphasize  what  has  already 
been  mentioned  among  the  general  causes — the  larger 
place  given  to  church  discipline,  penances,  and  the  like. 
Ecclesiastical  duties  and  almsgiving  as  a  means  of  grace 
were  beginning  to  receive  more  homiletical  attention  than 
grace  itself.  This  was  markedly  true  in  the  West.  Under 
all  these  circumstances  it  is  no  wonder  that  preaching 
declined.  The  wonder  is  that  it  survived,  and  that  amid 
such  untoward  influences  there  were  found  both  East  and 
West  some  preachers  of  ability  who  still  held  forth  the 
word  of  life. 

A  number  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of 
preaching  in  this  age  have  been  already  indicated  in  the 
discussion  of  the  causes  which  led  to  its  decline.  These 
need  not  be  repeated  here,  but  some  additional  matters 
will  claim  our  notice.  As  with  the  causes  of  decline  some 
of  these  characteristics  are  general,  and  some  are  more 
notable  in  the  East  or  in  the  West. 

The  sermon  retains  its  character  as  an  expository  dis- 
course. It  varies  still  from  the  more  extended  address 


114  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

to  the  briefer  homily.  In  form  and  content  it  remains 
much  what  the  fourth  century  developed.  Only  the  de- 
cline of  power  is  apparent,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  pre- 
ceding discussion.  The  allegorical  interpretation — except 
in  Theodoret  and  a  few  others  of  the  Antiochian  school — 
has  the  field.  The  enforcing  of  churchly  duties  is  a  large 
element  in  the  preaching.  The  growth  of  liturgical 
forms,  while  depressing  to  preaching,  has  yet  given  to  it 
a  recognized  and  permanent  place  in  the  services  of  the 
church.  It  has  become  what  a  modern  German  writer  on 
Homiletics  defines  it  even  now  to  be :  "  Worship  in  dis- 
course, and  discourse  in  worship."1 

Besides  what  has  been  already  pointed  out,  we  should 
observe  that  in  the  East  the  speculative  quality  of  thought 
is  more  prominent,  and  the  rhetorical  art  and  effort  more 
apparent,  than  in  the  West.  Among  the  Latins  there  is 
less  of  speculation  and  more  of  the  practical  in  doctrinal 
discussion.  Strong  emphasis  is  placed  on  the  church  and 
its  life  and  duties,  its  liturgy  and  demands.  Less  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  oratorical  finery,  and  the  sermons  are  usu- 
ally briefer  than  in  the  East,  some  so  brief  as  to  suggest 
that  they  were  only  expository  remarks,  or  additional  ex- 
hortations made  by  the  bishop  after  the  longer  discourse 
of  a  presbyter. 

3.    THE  GREEK  PREACHERS 

Among  the  Greeks  there  were  many  preachers,  and  a 
few  who  for  various  reasons  were  men  of  note  and  influ- 
ence. Of  these  we  shall  select  for  brief  mention  five  less 
known  and  two  of  greater  prominence  and  fame. 

A  very  interesting  character  is  Synesius  (d.  c.  420 ),2 
bishop  of  Ptolemais  'in  Cyrene,  north  Africa.  He  was 
of  good  family  and  well  educated.  At  one  time  'he  was 
among  the  pupils  of  the  famous  woman  philosopher, 
Hypatia,  at  Alexandria.  He  had  read  much  and  traveled 
extensively,  and  was  an  easy-going  man  of  the  world,  ,a 
Neo-Platonist  in  philosophy.  In  some  way  he  was 
brought  under  Christian  influences — of  a  sort — and  seems 

1 "  Ein  Cultus-Act  der  Rede,  das  ist  das  bestimmende  Moment ; 
und  ein  Rede-Act  im  Cultus,  das  ist  der  abhangige."  Th.  Har- 
nack,  Geschichte  und  Theorie  der  Predigt,  S.  12. 

"Moller  in  Herzog;  Schaff's  History,  Vol.  III.,  p.  604  f.  There 
is  a  clever  presentment  of  Synesius  in  Kingsley's  Hypatia. 


THE   EARLY    MEDLEVAL,    OR   DARK,    AGE  11$ 

to  have  had,  along  with  much  philosophy,  some  real 
Christian  views  and  principles.  He  owned  an  estate  in 
the  country  near  Ptolemais,  and  was  fond  of  country  life 
— gardening,  hunting,  and  the  like.  He  had  much  influ- 
ence and  was  much  respected  by  his  neighbors,  and  the 
times  being  troublous  he  was  urged — though  married 
and  yet  unbaptized — to  become  bishop  of  Ptolemais. 
Synesius  felt  some  honorable  scruples,  and  moreover  in- 
sisted upon  being  allowed  to  retain  his  wife  and  his  dogs 
if  he  should  accept  the  office!  Nevertheless  he  was  per- 
suaded by  Theophilus  of  Alexandria  and  others  to  accept 
the  bishopric,  and  was  baptized  and  ordained  by  the  arch- 
bishop himself.  Though  thus  conscientiously  reluctant 
to  enter  the  office  he  made  a  faithful  bishop  in  kindly  care 
of  his  flock.  Epistles,  treatises  and  hymns  of  his  remain, 
but  only  two  homilies,  and  they  of  small  moment.  He 
had  the  oratorical  gift  and  training,  and  though  we  have 
no  fair  samples  of  his  preaching  to  judge  by,  we  may  infer 
that  he  was  a  speaker  of  more  than  ordinary  force. 

Among  the  notable  theologians  and  scholars  of  this  age 
a  high  place  is  held  by  Theodore  (d.  428)1,  bishop  of 
Mopsuestia  in  Cilicia,  the  friend  of  John  Chrysostom,  the 
pupil  of  Diodorus.  He  was  probably  born  at  Antioch, 
where  he  was  trained  in  rhetoric  by  Libanius,  and  de- 
signed for  the  law.  But  he  was  persuaded  by  his  friend 
John  to  retire  with  himself  from  the  world  and  study  the 
Bible  under  Diodorus.  A  bright  vision  of  love  crossed 
his  path  and  he  was  about  to  go  back  to  the  world,  when 
John's  eloquent  pleadings  again  prevailed  and  Theodore 
finally  devoted  himself  to  the  religious  life.  Soon  he  was 
made  a  presbyter,  and  in  394  bishop  of  Mopsuestia.  In 
this  same  year  he  preached  on  some  occasion  in  Constanti- 
nople a  sermon  which  received  warm  commendation  from 
the  emperor  Theodosius.  Yet  it  is  as  theologian  and 
commentator  that  Theodore  is  best  known.  Of  his 
voluminous  writings  not  many  remain,  and  some  of  these 
chiefly  in  Latin  translations.  Among  the  fragments 
Paniel  notes  only  a  few,  and  those  unimportant,  of  a 
homiletical  character.  His  style  was  not  attractive — 
"  neither  brilliant  nor  very  clear,"  according  to  Photius — 
and  he  wearies  by  too  much  repetition.  Yet  he  enjoyed 
\M611er  in  Herzog-Plitt,  Bd.  15,  8.^394  ^Paniel,  S.  582. 


Il6  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

considerable  reputation  as  a  preacher,  and  it  is  to  his 
lasting  credit  that  he  sought  to  present  the  historical  and 
grammatical  meaning  of  Scripture  rather  than  the  alle- 
gorical. 

Homiletic  interest,  or  rather  curiosity,  is  awakened 
toward  Nestorius,1  the  famous  heretic  who  was  con- 
demned at  Ephesus  in  431.  The  fame  of  his  eloquence 
had  induced  the  emperor  Theodosius  II.  in  428  to  make 
him  archbishop  of  Constantinople.  For  a  while  he  en- 
joyed great  popularity  as  a  preacher,  but  his  zeal  against 
heretics  made  enemies  for  him ;  and  his  opposition  to  giv- 
ing the  title  "  Mother  of  God  "  to  Mary  and  his  error  as 
to  the  Person  of  Christ  were  used  against  him,  and  he 
was  deposed  and  banished.  The  Council  of  Ephesus  in 
431,  under  the  influence  of  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  made 
him  drink  the  bitter  cup  of  persecution  for  heresy  which 
he  had  himself  forced  on  others.  Some  fragments  and 
reports  of  his  discourses  remain,  but  as  these  come  from 
his  opponents  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  fair  specimens 
of  his  work.  Rothe,  however,  conjectures  that  he  must 
have  been  a  preacher  of  more  than  usual  abilities. 

We  have  better  means  of  judging  concerning  Proclus, 
who  was  made  archbishop  of  Constantinople  in  434.  In 
his  young  manhood  he  had  served  Chrysostom  as  secre- 
tary, and  was  a  careful  student  of  rhetoric.  So  he  had  a 
good  chance  to  learn  oratory.  He  was  a  presbyter  at 
Constantinople  at  the  time  of  the  Nestorian  controversy, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  attack  in  a  sermon 
Nestorius'  objection  to  calling  Mary  the  "  Mother  of 
God."  He  enjoyed  great  popularity  as  a  preacher. 
Twenty-three  of  his  sermons  remain,  three  on  Mary,  the 
rest  delivered  on  feast  days  and  Apostles'  days.  They 
are  mainly  theological  and  polemical,  with  little  of  prac- 
tical application.  He  is  often  declamatory,  dealing  much 
in  exclamation,  antithesis,  and  other  devices  for  rhetori- 
cal effect.  The  sermons  show  considerable  vigor  of  ex- 
pression and  liveliness  of  imagination ;  they  are  usually 
without  text,  are  of  unequal  length,  and  commonly  have 
an  introduction,  and  at  the  conclusion  a  doxology,  after 
the  manner  of  Chrysostom.  Of  one  of  those  on  Mary 
Rothe  says :  "  The  sixth  homily  consists  almost  entirely 
1  Rothe,  S.  127  f. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  II J 

of  long  dialogues  between  Mary,  Joseph  and  the  angel 
Gabriel,  and  Christ  himself ;  and  of  a  very  pathetic  mono- 
logue by  Satan !  " 

There  was,  in  this  age,  a  Basil  (d.  c.  448),  who  was 
bishop  of  Seleucia  in  Isauria,  from  whom  there  remain 
forty-three  sermons.  Little  is  known  of  his  life.  He 
was  a  warm,  even  enthusiastic,  partisan  of  the  claims  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  as  these  were  then  understood,  but  he 
seems  to  have  taken  rather  a  wavering  position  in  the 
Eutychian  controversy.  As  a  preacher  he  is  estimated 
higher  than  Proclus.  He  is  hot  in  polemics  against  here- 
tics and  Jews,  given  to  much  empty  declamation,  and  is 
a  far-off  imitator  of  Chrysostom.  Yet  he  has  some  merits 
— handles  his  text  historically  and  fairly  well,  and  makes 
some  practical  application. 

Two  other  preachers  of  this  time  are  of  far  greater 
importance  than  those  we  have  just  noticed,  both  as 
church  leaders  and  as  speakers — one  representing  the 
Alexandrian,  the  other  the  Antiochian  school. 

Cyril1  of  Alexandria  (d.  444)  was  nephew  of  the  in- 
famous Theophilus,  the  enemy  of  Chrysostom.  He  suc- 
ceeded his  evil  uncle  as  patriarch  of  Alexandria  about 
the  year  412,  and  was  an  apt  pupil  of  his  predecessor  in 
selfishness,  intrigue,  and  even  violence.  Cyril  was  a 
member  of  the  synod  which  condemned  Chrysostom,  and 
afterwards  when  in  a  later  synod  the  unrighteous  sen- 
tence against  the  famous  preacher  was  revoked  and  tardy 
justice  done  his  memory  long  after  his  death,  Cyril  voted 
against  the  revocation,  and  compared  Chrysostom  to 
Judas!  Yet,  after  all  this,  it  must  be  "said  that  under 
pressure  of  church  authority  he  did  admit  Chrysostom's 
name  among  those  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  on  the 
memorial  tablets  of  the  Alexandrian  church.  As  an  in- 
stance of  his  violence  it  is  said  that  soon  after  taking 
office  as  archbishop  he  closed  the  churches  and  seized  the 
church  property  of  the  Novatians  as  being  heretics.  In 
415  the  Jews  in  Alexandria,  because  of  his  injustice 
toward  them,  raised  a  riot,  and  Cyril  authorized  an  armed 
onslaught  on  their  synagogues.  Some  were  killed,  many 
driven  away  and  their  property  plundered.  This  high- 

'Lentz,  I.,  S.  III.;  Schaff,  Vol.  III.,  p.  942  ff;  Rothe,  S.  122; 
Gibbon,  Chap.  XLVII. ;  Kingsley's  Hypatia. 


Il8  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

handed  assumption  of  authority  brought  him  into  con- 
flict with  the  imperial  governor  Orestes.  Some  writers 
hold  him  responsible  for  the  brutal  and  atrocious  murder 
;of  Hypatia,  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  teacher  of 
pagan  philosophy  in  Alexandria.  The  mob  that  murdered 
her  was  led  by  Peter  the  reader,  a  violent  adherent  of 
Cyril,  whose  sympathies  were  probably  in  favor  of  the 
proceeding.  But  there  does  not  seem  to  be  enough  evi- 
dence to  prove  that  he  directly  ordered  or  instigated  it. 
Before,  at  and  after  the  Council  of  Ephesus  (431)  Cyril 
was  the  able,  unscrupulous  and  violent  opponent  of  Nes- 
torius  and  his.  teachings.  He  stuck  at  no  measures  of 
bribery  and  violence  to  carry  his  point.  Schaff  says  that 
"  he  exhibits  to  us  a  man  making  theology  and  orthodoxy 
the  instruments  of  his  passions,"  and  quotes  Milman  as 
saying,  "  Who  would  not  meet  the  judgment  of  the  divine 
Redeemer  loaded  with  the  errors  of  Nestorius  rather  than 
the  barbarities  of  Cyril  ?  "  The  Catholics  find  it  hard  to 
apologize  for  canonizing  him,  and  the  fine  historical  ro- 
mance of  Kingsley  has  given  him  an  evil  name  in  litera- 
ture. 

As  a  theologian  and  preacher  Cyril  is  entitled  to  more 
consideration  than  his  character  would  warrant,  for  he 
was  an  able  exponent  of  the  Alexandrian  school.  He 
posed  as  the  friend  of  hidden  wisdom,  and  of  course 
pushes  very  far  the  allegorical  interpretation  of  Scripture. 
It  was  customary  for  the  archbishop  of  Alexandria  to 
write  and  send  forth  at  certain  seasons  an  address  or 
circular  letter  to  the  churches  of  his  diocese.  A  number 
of  these  appear  among  the  works  of  Cyril  as  homilies. 
Of  the  twenty-nine  remaining,  seventeen  are  said  to  be 
concerned  with  the  title  of  Mary — "  Mother  of  God  " — 
then  so  hotly  disputed.  Besides  these  there  remain 
thirteen  other  discourses  which  deal  much  with  that  doc- 
trinal strife.  The  most  noted  was  delivered  in  the  Church 
of  Mary  at  Ephesus  before  the  famous  council  of  the  year 
431,  after  that  body  had  solemnly  decreed  that  the  dis- 
puted title  should  be  given  to  the  Mother  of  Jesus.  The 
sermon  was  deposited  among  the  acts  of  the  council. 
There  is  another  sermon  which  treats  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per as  a  "  mystical  meal,"  in  which  "  Christ  acts  as  host." 
Another  treats  of  the  future  state  of  the  wicked,  and  de.- 


THE   EARLY   MEDIAEVAL,  OR  DARK,   AGE  119 

scribes  with  elaborate  detail  the  sufferings  of  hell.  It  has 
many  vigorous  and  striking  passages,  but  it  is  overdone, 
and  the  effect  is  spoiled  by  exaggeration.  The  speaker 
seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  picturing  the  awful  fate  of  the 
lost.  Cyril  does  not  lack  fancy  and  richness  of  imagery. 
Some  of  his  sermons  show  a  good  deal  of  logical  skill  as 
well  as  rhetorical  effectiveness.  But  after  all  Rothe  has 
this  to  say :  "  The  passionate,  violent,  angry  character 
of  the  man  impresses  itself  also  on  his  sermons.  His 
polemic  is  violent  and  bitter,  and  full  of  passionate  per- 
sonal attacks  upon  his  opponents.  Moreover  there  passes 
through  his  addresses  a  rather  consuming  than  warming 
glow  of  feeling  and  fancy,  which,  better  guided,  might 
have  brought  forth  extraordinary  effects."  How  true  it 
is  that  the  evil  traits  of  a  man's  character  may  hinder  and 
even  ruin  his  influence,  although  he  be  gifted  with  un- 
usual talents ! 

We  find  a  very  different  sort  of  man  from  Cyril  in  his 
contemporary  and  sometimes  opponent,  Theodoret  (d. 
457)  j1  bishop  of  Cyrus  in  Syria.  This  distinguished  his- 
torian and  exegete  was  born  at  Antioch  about  the  year 
390.  He,  like  many  another  eminent  divine,  was  blessed 
with  an  especially  good  Christian  mother,  who  took  pains 
with  his  education.  He  was  trained  in  a  monastery,  and 
received  the  impress  though  not  the  personal  instructions 
of  the  eminent  teacher  Diodorus,  who  had  taught  Chrys- 
ostom  and  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia.  This  last  scholar 
and  prelate  had  also  great,  and  possibly  personal,  influ- 
ence over  Theodoret,  in  whose  work  is  seen  the  safer  his- 
torical and  grammatical  interpretation  of  Scripture  pur- 
sued by  the  Antiochene  scholars  as  compared  with  those 
of  Alexandria.  After  420  Theodoret  appears  as  bishop 
of  Cyrus,  a  town  of  no  great  importance  in  Syria.  He 
was  opposed  to  Cyril  in  his  violent  dealings  with  Nesto- 
rius,  though  he  did  not  go  as  far  as  Nestorius  toward 
teaching  the  theory  of  the  dual  personality  in  our  Lord. 
He  was  moderate.  Under  Cyril's  influence  he  was  con- 
demned at  Ephesus  in  431 ;  and  the  so-called  "  Robber 
Synod  "  in  449  went  so  far  as  actually  to  depose  him  from 

'Schaff,  Vol.  III.,  p.  88if;  Rothe,  S.  129  ff;  Lentz,  I,  S.  116 
ff;  Moller  in  Herzog,  Bd.  15,  S.  401  ff. 


120  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

his  bishopric.  But  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  in  451  ac- 
quitted and  restored  him  on  condition  of  his  accepting  the 
condemnation  of  Nestorius  and  agreeing  to  the  title 
"  Mother  of  God  "  as  applied  to  Mary.  These  concessions 
he  could  make  without  much  compromise,  as  he  was  not  in 
full  accord  with  Nestorius  in  doctrine,  though  personally 
opposed  to  his  condemnation,  and  by  no  means  an  admirer 
of  Cyril.  As  bishop  Theodoret  led  an  exemplary  life,  in 
fact  he  had  been  pious  and  pure  from  his  childhood,  and 
had  served  in  some  of  the  minor  offices  of  the  church  with 
fidelity  and  success.  Even  his  enemies  had  to  acknowl- 
edge the  goodness  of  the  man,  especially  his  benevolence 
and  charity.  "  He  owned  nothing  of  value  save  his 
books,  applying  the  revenues  of  his  diocese  to  the  public 
good." 

He  is  especially  valuable  to  posterity  as  a  church  his- 
torian, continuing  the  narrative  of  Eusebius  down  to  the 
year  429.  But  as  an  exegete  and  preacher  he  has  received 
high  praise  from  scholars  who  have  studied  his  works. 
As  a  preacher  he  was  active  and  laborious,  visiting  other 
towns  than  his  own  and  working  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners  and  heretics.  He  had  no  sweeping  eloquence,  but 
must  have  been  a  clear,  keen  reasoner.  His  style  is  simple 
and  straightforward  and  not  overloaded  with  ornament. 
There  remain  from  him  an  interesting  series  of  ten  ser- 
mons delivered  ten  days  apart  at  Antioch  before  he  was 
made  bishop  of  Cyrus.  They  treat  of  Divine  Providence. 
He  proves  the  providence  of  God  from  natural  religion, 
from  the  guidance  of  nature  and  of  men,  from  evidences 
of  design  (using  in  an  elaborate  way  the  human  hand  as 
an  illustration),  and  from  the  arrangements  of  society. 
The  last  sermon  sets  forth  the  incarnation  and  saving 
work  of  Christ  as  the  highest  and  crowning  token  of 
God's  providence.  Altogether  Theodoret  was  a  preacher 
of  considerable  ability  and  importance.  Indeed  Rothe 
says  of  him  that  "  he  is  the  only  classical  preacher  that  the 
Greek  church  has  after  Chrysostom."  We  may  therefore 
close  our  survey  of  Eastern  preaching  in  this  epoch  with 
him.  The  Greek  preachers  of  the  sixth  century  are  hardly 
worth  study.  The  age  of  Justinian,  with  its  great  generals 
and  lawyers,  produced  no  great  preacher. 

In  the  West  as  in  the  East  we  find  in  this  period  a 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,   AGE  121 

number  of  men  whose  characters  and  deeds  are  of  con- 
siderable interest  and  importance  in  Church  History,  but 
when  we  look  for  any  who  are  exceptionally  influential 
or  distinguished  as  preachers  we  shall  look  in  vain. 
Judging  from  the  specimens  that  have  come  down  to  us 
we  can  only  rate  the  Latin  preaching  of  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries  as  mediocre,  but  it  may  well  be  that  much  of  the 
best  work  has  left  no  literary  remains  of  itself.  Certainly 
there  was  no  utter  dearth  of  preaching,  and  we  may  men- 
tion a  few  of  the  better  known  or  more  important  preach- 
ers in  each  century  as  representatives  of  their  less  known 
brethren.  Of  the  men  of  the  fifth  century  four  only  will, 
for  different  reasons,  and  as  representatives  of  different 
tendencies,  receive  notice. 

Among  the  great  missionary  preachers  of  all  time,  and 
adorning  this  obscure  age,  was  the  apostle  and  saint  of 
Ireland,  Patricius,  better  known  to  us  as  St.  Patrick.1 
The  legends  and  myths  which,  however  piously  meant, 
have  distorted  and  marred  his  real  image  must  not  blind 
us  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  historic  person,  and  that  he 
did  a  great  and  noble  work,  whose  influence  and  blessing 
extended  far  beyond  his  own  age  and  people.  There  re- 
main no  sermons  from  him,  but  his  "  Confessions  "  are 
regarded  as  genuine,  and  there  are  also  some  letters  which 
may  be  so  accepted.  From  these  we  learn  the  main  facts 
of  his  life  and  labors.  The  story  is  told  with  great  hu- 
mility, but  it  reveals  in  its  very  simplicity  the  noble  char- 
acter of  the  man,  and  gives  some  inkling  of  the  power 
and  success  of  his  preaching.  He  was  born  in  Scotland, 
the  son  of  a  priest  or  deacon,  at  Bonaven,  now  known  as 
Kilpatrick,  probably  about  the  year  372.  The  barbarous 
Scots  from  Ireland  (then  their  main  habitation)  often 
made  forays  into  Britain,  and  in  one  of  these  they  cap- 
tured the  youth  and  carried  him  away  into  slavery.  After 
a  time  he  managed  to  escape  and  return  to  his  native 
land.  But  the  godless  condition  of  the  heathen  among 
whom  he  had  lived  as  a  slave  preyed  on  his  mind,  and  he 
resolved  to  go  back  and  preach  to  them  the  gospel  of 

1  C.  Schoell  in  Herzog,  Bd.  II.,  S.  292  ff ;  F.  F.  Walrond,  Chris- 
tian Missions  before  the  Reformation,  p.  7  ff.,  a  brief,  popular, 
but  well-considered  and  interesting  account.  The  sources  and 
literature  are  well  given  in  the  article  by  Schoell. 


122  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Christ.  No  words  can  tell  the  story  as  well  as  his  own :  * 
"  Against  my  wishes  I  was  forced  to  offend  my  relations 
and  many  of  those  who  wished  me  well.  It  was  not  in  my 
own  power,  but  it  was  God  who  conquered  in  me  and  with- 
stood them  all ;  so  that  I  went  to  the  people  of  Ireland  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  suffered  many  insults  from  un- 
believers, and  many  persecutions,  even  unto  bonds,  giving 
up  my  liberty  that  I  might  be  made  a  blessing  to  others. 
And  if  I  am  found  worthy  I  am  willing  to  give  up  my 
life  with  joy  for  his  name's  sake."  He  would  sometimes 
beat  a  drum  to  call  the  people  together  in  the  open  air, 
and  then  would  preach  to  the  crowd.  He  gathered  pupils 
about  him,  and  they  would  travel  over  the  country  reading 
and  expounding  the  Gospels.  His  visits  were  usually 
brief,  but  sometimes  he  would  remain  longer  in  one  place ; 
and  there  is  an  interesting  account  of  his  work  at  the  capi- 
tal, Tara,  made  famous  in  literature  by  Moore's  song, 
"  The  harp  that  once  through  Tara's  halls."  Here  he 
gained  many  converts,  as  well  as  in  other  places.  Glad  in- 
deed should  we  be  if  we  had  any  specimens  of  his  ser- 
mons to  study,  but  if  we  had  they  would  probably  be  very 
inadequate  tokens  of  his  real  power  in  preaching.  For  we 
should  not  have  had  them  (nor  probably  have  been  able 
to  understand  them  if  we  had!)  in  the  native  language 
in  which  they  were  spoken ;  but  only  in  Latin  reports  of 
them  made  by  himself  or  his  scholars.  So  perhaps  we 
need  not  much  regret  the  lack.  The  secret  of  his  power 
is  well  expressed  in  Walrond's  words  :2  "  In  all  that  he 
did,  and  in  every  moment  of  every  day,  he  relied  upon  the 
constant  guidance  and  support  of  that  God  whose  word 
he  was  engaged  in  publishing."  After  years  of  laborious 
and  successful  toil  he  seems  in  the  evening  of  his  life  to 
have  rested  somewhat,  and  to  have  passed  away  in  peace. 
We  come  into  a  very  different  atmosphere  when  we 
leave  this  free,  live,  devoted  missionary  of  the  far  West, 
and  drop  back  among  the  prelatical  and  more  distinctly 
Latin  preachers  of  decadent  Italy.  Of  these  three  may  be 
mentioned  as  representative,  but  only  one  of  them  is 
worthy  of  much  consideration.3 

1  Quoted  from  Walrond,  op.  cit.,  p.  16.      2  Op.  cit.,  pp.  23,  24. 
8  Information  chiefly  derived  from  the  works  of  Schaff,  Lentz, 
Rothe,  etc. 


THE    EARLY    MEDLEVAL,    OR   DARK,    AGE  123 

Peter  (d.  451)  was  the  name  of  the  leading  bishop  of 
Ravenna  during  this  falling  epoch  when  the  feeble  Ro- 
man imperial  court  had  removed  from  the  Eternal  City  to 
that  fastness.  His  appointment  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment indicates  that  he  was  a  man  of  some  influence.  He 
filled  the  office  for  eighteen  years,  from  433  till  his  death. 
In  later  times  he  was  surnamed  Chrysologus — "  golden 
speech  " — probably  from  the  flowing  style  of  his  writings 
rather  than  from  their  eloquence.  It  is  a  note  of  declin- 
ing taste  when  so  tame  a  writer  receives  such  an  appella- 
tion. There  remain  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  short 
sermons  attributed  to  him.  They  are  not  strong  or  sub- 
lime, and  explain  the  Scriptures  after  the  allegorical 
method,  but  in  a  simple  way  and  with  evident  desire  to 
benefit  his  hearers.  He  has  much  to  say  of  alms,  fasting, 
and  the  other  accepted  churchly  virtues. 

From  Maximus  (d.  465),  bishop  of  Turin,  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century,  there  are  extant  seventy-three 
brief  homilies.  He  is  said  to  have  had  a  fine  faculty  for 
impromptu  address,  and  Rothe  keenly  remarks  that  there 
is  sufficient  evidence  of  unpremeditated  speech  in  these 
sermons !  They  are  full  of  allegorical  interpretation,  and 
they  also  contain  numerous  anecdotes  of  the  saints  and 
like  material,  giving  notice  of  the  rise  of  that  style  of  ser- 
mon. They  are  not  of  much  intrinsic  interest  or  value, 
but  as  samples  from  the  times  they  are  instructive.  One 
curious  homily  discusses  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,  and 
roundly  scolds  the  people  for  keeping  up  the  old  heathen 
custom  of  making  a  loud  outcry,  as  if  that  would  have 
any  effect  in  causing  the  shadow  to  pass,  as  if  God 
needed  any  such  help  as  this  in  removing  the  trouble ! 

The  most  important  Latin  preacher  of  the  fifth  century 
after  Augustine  is  Leo  (d.  461),  the  famous  bishop  of 
Rome,  who  is  sometimes  considered  the  first  pope  in  the 
proper  sense.  He  was  probably  born  in  Rome,  though 
neither  the  time  nor  the  place  of  his  birth  is  certainly 
known.  He  had  filled  some  of  the  minor  offices  of  the 
church  in  Rome  when  in  440,  during  his  absence,  he  was 
unanimously  and  cordially  elected  bishop.  He  exercised 
this  office  in  a  faithful  and  distinguished  manner  during 
his  twenty-one  remaining  years  of  life,  and  is  not  without 
reason  called  "  the  Great."  He  held  a  very  exalted  opinion 


124  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

of  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  see,  claiming  the  right  of 
Rome  to  pass  on  all  matters  of  doctrine  and  practice  for 
the  whole  church.  Leo  was  a  strong  theologian  and 
took  part  with  intelligence  and  success  in  the  doctrinal 
controversies  of  his  age.  In  449  he  wrote  to  Flavian, 
bishop  of  Constantinople,  a  letter  against  the  error  of 
Eutyches  as  to  the  fusion  of  the  two  natures  in  our  Lord's 
person.  This  letter  was  the  basis  of  the  decree  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  in  451  which  defined  the  two  na- 
tures in  the  one  person  of  Christ.  This  gave  Leo  great 
doctrinal  authority  through  Christendom.  He  also  took 
an  active  interest  in  secular  affairs.  He  is  said  to  have 
induced  Attila  the  Hun  (in  452)  to  spare  Rome,  and  also 
to  have  moderated  somewhat  the  destructive  Vandals 
under  Genseric,  when  they  sacked  and  pillaged  the  city 
in  455.  Thus  Leo  was  a  many-sided  and  very  able  man. 
His  life  was  without  reproach,  and  he  gave  great  and  con- 
scientious care  to  his  flock. 

As  a  preacher  he  has  some  especial  claims  to  attention. 
He  is  the  first  of  the  Roman  bishops  from  whom  we  have 
sermons  remaining.  Of  these  ninety-six  are  with  reason- 
able probability  reckoned  genuine.1  He  was  a  diligent 
preacher,  believing  earnestly  that  this  was  an  indispensa- 
ble part  of  his  duty  as  a  bishop.  The  sermons  are  short — 
as  was  then  customary  in  the  Latin  churches.  As  we 
have  them  it  is  estimated  that  even  the  longest  would  only 
have  occupied  twenty  minutes  in  delivery,  many  of  them 
only  half  that  time.  But  the  reports  may  be  shorter  than 
the  actual  sermons  were.  They  are  occupied  largely  with 
festivals,  fasts,  saints'  days,  and  other  occasions.  Only  a 
few  are  expository  at  all,  nor  do  they  much  discuss  the 
great  doctrines.  They  urge  the  churchly  virtues  of  fasts, 
alms,  and  penance,  and  teach  that  these  are  meritorious 
works.  In  style  they  are  rather  ambitious  and  brilliant, 
abounding  in  antitheses  and  pregnant  sayings.  Leo  is  a 
warning  against  making  more  of  style  than  of  matter ;  for 
it  is  a  sharp  and  not  wholly  unjust  criticism  of  Lentz  that 
if  the  order  of  the  words  be  changed,  or  other  words  be 
used  to  express  the  thought,  the  merit  would  be  gone. 

While  not  particularly  profound  in  thought  or  specially 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  54,  col.  141 ;  translations  in  Nicene  and 
Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  XIII. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,   AGE  125 

edifying  in  tone  the  sermons  contain  a  good  deal  that  is 
worthy  of  note.  The  sixty-first  sermon  1 — eighth  on  the 
Passion — discusses  the  arrest  of  Jesus,  the  sinful  compli- 
ance of  Pilate,  the  greater  guilt  of  the  Jews,  the  meaning 
of  Christ's  bearing  his  own  cross  and  of  Simon's  sharing 
it,  and  how  we  should  see  the  deeper  meaning  of  the  cru- 
cifixion as  taught  by  our  Lord's  own  words.  Then  in  a 
long  apostrophe  he  speaks  of  the  attractive  power  of  the 
cross,  and  concludes  as  follows :  "  Let  us  then,  dearly  be- 
loved, confess  what  the  blessed  teacher  of  the  nations,  the 
Apostle  Paul,  confessed,  saying,  '  Faithful  is  the  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners.'  For  God's  mercy  towards 
us  is  the  more  wonderful  that  Christ  died  not  for  the 
righteous  nor  for  the  holy,  but  for  the  unrighteous  and 
wicked ;  and  though  the  nature  of  the  Godhead  could  not 
sustain  the  sting  of  death,  yet  at  his  birth  he  took  from 
us  that  which  he  might  offer  for  us.  For  of  old  he  threat- 
ened our  death  with  the  power  of  his  death,  saying  by 
the  mouth  of  Hosea,  the  prophet,  '  O  death,  I  will  be  thy 
death,  and  I  will  be  thy  destruction,  Q  hell.'  For  by 
dying  he  underwent  the  laws  of  hell,  but  by  rising  again 
he  broke  them,  and  so  destroyed  the  continuity  of  death 
as  to  make  it  temporal  instead  of  eternal.  .  .  .  And 
so,  dearly  beloved,  let  that  come  to  pass  of  which  St.  Paul 
speaks,  '  that  they  that  live  should  henceforth  not  live  to 
themselves  but  to  him  who  died  for  all  and  rose  again.' 
And  because  the  old  things  have  passed  away  and  all 
things  are  become  new,  let  none  remain  in  his  old  carnal 
life,  but  let  us  all  be  renewed  by  daily  progress  and 
growth  in  piety.  For  however  much  a  man  be  justified, 
yet  so  long  as  he  remains  in  this  life  he  can  always  be 
more  approved  and  better.  And  he  that  is  not  advancing 
is  going  back,  and  he  that  is  gaining  nothing  is  losing 
something.  Let  us  run  then,  with  the  steps  of  faith,  by 
the  works  of  mercy,  in  the  love  of  righteousness,  that 
keeping  the  day  of  our  redemption  spiritually,  '  not  in  the 
old  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  but  in  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth,'  we  may  deserve  to  be  par- 
takers of  Christ's  resurrection,  who  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  liveth  and  reigneth  forever  and  ever. 
Amen." ' 

1Nic.  and  P.-Nic.  Path.,  Vol.  XII.,  pp.  171  ff. 


126  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

In  the  sixth  century  only  three  names  need  detain  us, 
but  these  are  for  different  reasons  well  worthy  of  mention. 
Fulgentius  (d.  533)  was  bishop  of  a  town  called  Ruspe 
in  north  Africa.  He  was  born  about  the  year  468  of  a  sena- 
torial family  in  that  region.  He  had  in  youth  good 
educational  advantages,  and  he  improved  them.  He  was 
blessed  with  a  good  Christian  mother.  An  indication  of 
her  influence  and  of  his  dispostion  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  on  being  appointed  to  some  government  position, 
before  entering  the  ministry,  he  found  the  exactions  for 
taxes  so  harsh  and  distasteful  that  he  gave  up  the  office. 
He  leaned  toward  the  monastic  life,  but  events  called  him 
to  activity  and  to  suffering.  The  Arian  king  of  the 
Vandals  persecuted  the  orthodox  Christians,  and  Fulgen- 
tius was  among  those  who  suffered.  Against  his  will  he 
was  made  bishop  of  Ruspe,  and  soon  afterwards  was  ban- 
ished, along  with  other  orthodox  bishops,  to  the  island  of 
Sardinia.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  he  was,  under 
some  change  of  sentiment,  recalled  to  his  bishopric.  He 
was  an  able  and  clear-headed  man,  well  versed  in  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  questions  of  the  day,  in  the  older  Chris- 
tian writers,  and  especially  in  the  works  of  Augustine, 
whom  he  greatly  admired  and  imitated.  Ten  sermons 
among  those  attributed  to  him  are  considered  to  be  proba- 
bly genuine.1  Some  resemble  Augustine  in  style,  but  the 
most  of  them  are  imitations  of  Leo.  Thus  they  possess 
no  particular  originality  or  power. 

(d.  542),  for  forty  years  bishop  of  Aries,  in 


Gaul,  was  born  near  Chalons,  about  the  year  470.  He  was 
at  an  early  age  a  monk  in  the  cloister  at  Lerins,  then  dea- 
con, then  presbyter,  then  abbot,  and  finally  in  501  was 
made  bishop  of  Aries.  He  was  a  man  of  great  piety  and 
force  of  character,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  men 
of  his  time.  He  was  truly  evangelical  in  spirit  and  de- 
voted in  labors,  and  was  a  leader  in  the  Gallican  church 
in  his  day.  He  had  no  easy  life.  In  various  ways  he  was 
annoyed  and  even  persecuted,  on  charges  of  disloyalty  and 
the  like,  by  first  one  and  then  another  of  the  barbaric 
kings  —  Frank,  Burgundian,  and  Goth.  But  amid  all  his 
trials  he  was  a  faithful  and  diligent  bishop,  and  believed 
much  in  preaching.  He  also  gave  much  and  fruitful  at- 
1  Migne,  Pat.  Lai.,  torn.  65,  col.  719. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       127 

tention  to  singing  as  a  part  of  worship.  A  number  of 
sermons  ascribed  to  him  remain,  but  not  all  are  certainly 
genuine.1  He  was  earnest  in  urging  faith  and  a  true  con- 
ception of  the  work  of  Christ.  In  fact  he  was  Augustin- 
ian  in  his  theology,  and  his  utterances  against  the  merits 
of  mere  churchly  works  are  remarkable  in  that  age.  He 
was  accustomed  to  use  many  illustrations  from  life  in  his 
preaching,  trying  to  reach  the  common  people  and  earn- 
estly opposing  all  sorts  of  superstitions.  His  sermons,  or 
those  ascribed  to  him,  were  much  quoted  and  used 
throughout  the  mediaeval  period.  In  this  respect  he 
almost  takes  place  beside  Augustine  and  Gregory  the 
Great,  the  three  being  inexhaustible  sources  for  later  plagi- 
arism. 

The  patristic  or  ancient  period  in  the  history  of  preach- 
ing fitly  closes  with  Gregory,2  called  the  Great,  who  was 
bishop  of  Rome,  or,  as  we  may  now  say,  pope,  from  590 
to  604.  He  was  born  at  Rome  about  the  year  540  of  an 
ancient  and  wealthy  family  of  senatorial  rank.  During 
the  temporary  supremacy  of  the  Eastern  Empire  over 
Italy  in  consequence  of  the  decline  of  the  Gothic  kingdoms 
and  the  victories  of  Belisarius  and  Narses,  the  famous 
generals  of  Justinian,  Gregory  was  appointed  to  a  high 
civil  position  in  Rome.  He  discharged  the  duties  of  his 
office  with  fidelity  and  success;  but  he  had  a  longing 
for  the  monastic  life,  which  found  expression  for  a  time 
in  his  endowing  several  monasteries.  After  his  father's 
death  he  turned  his  own  house  into  a  cloister,  of  which 
he  became  himself  a  member,  and  practiced  the  strictest 
asceticism.  In  579  he  was  appointed  by  Pelagius  II., 
bishop  of  Rome,  a  legate  or  ambassador  to  the  court  of 
Constantinople — a  position  which  he  filled  with  ability,  as 
he  was  skilled  in  diplomacy  and  executive  management. 
After  several  years  he  returned  and  was  made  abbot  of 
his  convent.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  is  said  to  have 
noticed  the  fair  and  handsome  English  prisoners  in  the 
slave  market,  who  called  forth  his  admiration  and  sym- 
pathy, and  awakened  in  him  a  desire  for  the  conversion 
of  that  far-off  heathen  people.  In  590  he  was  elected 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  67,  col  1041. 

2  Mostly  the  same  authorities  as  before ;  works  in  Migne,  and 
translations  in  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  XII. 


128  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

bishop  of  Rome.  While  he  did  not  in  the  matter  of  the 
title  push  the  papal  claims  as  far  as  Leo  had  done,  he 
held  to  all  the  substantial  things  that  his  great  predecessor 
had  gained,  and  with  much  apparent  personal  humility 
asserted  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  see.  Schaff  well 
says  of  him  t1  "  He  combined  great  executive  ability  with 
untiring  industry,  and  amid  all  his  official  cares  he  never 
forgot  the  claims  of  personal  piety.  In  genius  he  was 
surpassed  by  Leo  I.,  Gregory  VII.,  Innocent  III.,  but  as 
a  man  and  a  Christian  he  ranks  with  the  purest  and  most 
useful  of  the  popes."  He  was  very  active  in  all  depart- 
ments of  his  work,  extending  his  jurisdiction  in  all  the 
West.  He  welcomed  Spain  back  from  the  Arian  heresy, 
the  result  of  Vandal  and  Gothic  influences;  he  sent  the 
monk  Augustine  to  England  to  labor  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  performed  many  other  acts  of 
importance  as  pope.  He  reformed  the  liturgy  and  the 
music  of  the  Roman  church,  and  gave  a  start  or  a  fresh 
impulse  to  many  elements  of  ecclesiastical  life. 

Among  Gregory's  works  is  a  celebrated  treatise  on  the 
pastoral  (episcopal)  office  called  Liber  Regulae  Pastoralis, 
or,  more  briefly,  "  Pastoral  Rule."  It  was  written  in  the 
first  year  of  his  pontificate,  and  addressed  to  Leander  of 
Seville.  It  owes  something  to  the  similar  work  of  Greg- 
ory Nazianzen,  to  which  he  refers  in  the  prologue  to  part 
third,  but  apparently  nothing  to  Chrysostom's  treatise  on 
the  Priesthood.2  The  work  treats  of  the  responsibilities 
of  the  pastoral  office,  of  the  character  of  those  who  should 
be  pastors,  of  the  kind  of  teaching  appropriate  to  different 
classes  in  the  flock,  and  other  such  matters.  It  contains 
much  sound  advice  suitable  for  all  times,  together  with 
much  that  is  trivial  and  weak.  There  is  very  little  that 
bears  specifically  upon  preaching,  and  nothing  in  the  way 
of  homiletical  theory  or  rules;  but  the  general  teaching 
of  the  book  and  a  few  hints  here  and  there  show  both 
just  ideas  and  a  high  regard  for  the  preacfiing  part  of 
the  pastor's  office.  The  book  enjoyed  a  great  repute  in 
its  own  and  subsequent  times,  and  had  the  distinction  of 
being  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon  by  Alfred  the  Great, 

1  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  212. 

'  Barmby's  Prolegomena  to  the  Pastoral  Rule,  Nic.  and  Post- 
Nic.  Fathers,  Vol.  XII. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  I2Q 

and  of  being  especially  recommended  by  enactments  of 
Charlemagne. 

As  a  preacher  Gregory  was,  like  Leo,  very  diligent.  He 
conscientiously  held  it  to  be  one  of  his  prime  duties  to 
preach  and  to  instruct  his  people.  Sixty-two  of  his  homi- 
lies remain,  twenty-two  on  Ezekiel,  and  forty  on  the 
Gospels,  based  on  the  passages  appointed  for  the  day. 
Some  of  the  sermons  were  committed  to  writing  by  him- 
self, and  others  were  taken  down  by  reporters  and  revised 
by  himself.  Usually  they  are  brief,  but  several  are  of 
considerable  length.  As  sermons  they  cannot  claim  very 
high  rank.  The  style  is  often  barbarous  and  inelegant, 
the  arrangement  of  no  special  worth,  the  thought  not 
rich  nor  deep,  and  the  Scripture  interpretation  full  of  the 
allegorical  method  and  often  puerile.  The  homilies  con- 
sist usually  of  short  paraphrases  of  the  text,  and  of  moral 
application  of  it.  Two  things  deserve  especial  mention: 
(i)  He  puts,  as  was  natural  from  his  monastic  bent  and 
training,  great  emphasis  upon  the  contemplative  element 
of  the  religious  life;  and  (2)  he  recognizes  and  assumes, 
both  by  precept  and  example,  the  important  place  of 
preaching  in  Christian  worship. 

The  character,  the  work,  the  time  of  Gregory,  all  uriite 
to  make  him  the  Pharos  of  the  transition  betwen  ancient 
and  mediaeval  church  history.  He  belongs  to  both 
epochs.1  As  Christlieb  well  says :  "  There  meet  in  him 
the  decline  and  the  new  strengthening  (though  not  the 
new  life)  of  preaching.  On  the  one  side  his  place  is  here  ; 
on  the  other  he  is  the  beginning  point  of  the  Middle 
Ages." 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE  Low  ESTATE  OF  PREACHING  IN  THE  SEVENTH  AND 
EIGHTH  CENTURIES 

As  the  note  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  is  decline, 
so  that  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  is  chaos.  It  was  a 
strange,  wild  time,  with  everything  in  confusion.  The 
old  East  was  in  its  dotage  and  the  new  West  in  its  child- 
hood. The  great  peoples  and  governments  of  mediaeval 
and  modern  Europe  were  making  their  crude  beginnings. 
1  See  Christlieb,  in  Herzog,  Bd.  18,  S.  486,  487. 


I3O  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

Christianity  in  all  its  phases  and  institutions  reflected  the 
character  of  the  times,  but  even  in  its  corruptions  and 
perversions  it  was  at  once  the  best  conservator  of  the 
ancient  good  and  the  surest  guarantee  for  the  future. 

i.    A  GLANCE  AT  THE  TIMES 

In  order  that  we  may  the  better  place  ourselves  for 
studying  the  preaching  and  preachers  of  the  period,  some 
of  the  most  important  events  and  movements  in  both  po- 
litical and  religious  history  should  be  rapidly  recalled. 

This  epoch  witnessed  the  rise  and  wonderful  early 
spread  of  Mohammedanism.  The  flight  of  Mohammed 
occurred  in  622,  his  death  ten  years  later,  and  in  just  a 
century  after  that,  in  732,  Charles  Mattel  defeated  the 
Saracens  on  the  plain  between  Tours  and  Poitiers.  In 
these  hundred  years  many  of  the  fairest  provinces  of  the 
Eastern  empire  had  been  forever  wrung  from  Greek  con- 
trol, Constantinople  itself  seriously  threatened,  Egypt  and 
north  Africa  overrun  and  firmly  held,  Spain  subjected, 
and  all  western  Europe  menaced  by  the  Saracen  invasion. 

In  the  Byzantine  empire  some  glory  was  shed  on  decay 
by  the  brilliant  but  futile  victories  of  the  emperor  Herac- 
lius,  but  state  and  church  were  torn  and  weakened  by  the 
long  and  weary  strife  over  the  worship  of  images  and  by 
the  controversy  whether  in  the  Person  of  Christ  there  is 
one  will  or  two. 

In  the  seething,  turbulent  West  new  nations,  peoples 
and  languages  are  forming  from  chaotic  elements.  Italy 
witnesses  the  downfall  of  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna  and 
with  it  the  final  departure  of  even  the  most  shadowy  po- 
litical connection  with  the  East;  likewise  the  rise  of  the 
Lombard  kingdom,  the  nucleus  of  the  Papal  States,  and 
the  foretokening  of  a  new  Empire  soon  to  be  established 
under  the  Franco-German  kings.  Germany  is  as  yet 
missionary  ground  where  a  few  toilers  are  sowing  seeds 
of  Christian  civilization.  France,  long  feeble  under  her 
sluggish  Merovingian  kings,  is  beginning  to  assume  some 
semblance  of  unity  and  a  degree  of  real  power  under  the 
vigorous  guidance  of  the  mayors  of  the  palace,  who  at  last 
take  the  name  as  well  as  the  substance  of  royalty  and 
found  the  illustrious  Carolingian  dynasty.  In  England 
the  struggle  between  Saxon  and  Kelt  progresses,  but 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  131 

the  consolidation  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kingdom  is  still  in 
the  future.  Latin  is  still  the  accepted  language  in  all  the 
West  for  literary,  legal  and  religious  purposes,  but  the 
Babel  of  dialects  shows  some  signs  of  yielding  an  out- 
come in  later  times  of  vernacular  speech  and  letters.  Es- 
pecially in  England  is  the  work  of  Caedmon  and  Bede 
worthy  of  remembrance  in  laying  foundations  for  Anglo- 
Saxon  literature. 

In  the  social  order,  or  rather  disorder,  some  forces  are 
to  be  reckoned  with.  The  kings  and  lords  constitute  the 
ruling  class,  where  military  success  and  personal  prowess 
are  the  main  ideals.  There  seems  to  have  been  as  yet  no 
mercantile  and  burgher  class  to  speak  of,  and  yet  these 
must  have  existed  in  some  forms,  though  weak  and  op-' 
pressed.  The  lower,  or  governed,  class  consisted  chiefly 
of  two  elements:  the  barbarian  followers  of  the  chiefs 
and  kings,  rude,  illiterate,  rapacious ;  and  the  downtrodden 
and  despoiled  native  peoples.  In  such  conditions  trade  and 
agriculture  could  only  exist  as  necessary  to  life,  they  could 
not  flourish  as  elements  of  civilization.  Between  the  gov- 
erning and  the  governed  classes  there  was  the  clergy, 
recruiting  its  ranks  from  both  the  others  and  thus 
forming  a  sort  of  cement — alas !  often  sadly  untempered 
mortar — for  the  social  fabric.  Morals  were  in  a  deplora- 
ble state,  and  yet  not  utterly  rotten  and  hopeless.  Roman 
law  lay  at  the  basis  of  civic  life,  and  yet  there  was  much 
lawlessness  and  rapine  and  some  superposition  of  bar- 
barian usages  and  laws.  The  ordeal  and  torture  were 
common,  and  the  man  who  could  not  defend  himself  had 
not  much  chance  'for  "  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  hap- 
piness." At  the  bottom  was  the  old  social  life  with  both 
its  good  customs  and  its  decay  and  ruin;  then  there  was 
the  alluvial  deposit  of  fresh  barbarian  soil  with  its  rank 
weeds  of  violence  and  rapacity,  and  yet  with  its  choice 
flowers  of  courage,  honor  and  respect  for  woman ;  and 
above  all  was  the  influence  of  Christianity  which,  despite 
its  own  corruptions,  served  to  mitigate  the  ills  of  the  other 
two  elements,  and  held  in  germ  the  hopeful  formative 
forces  of  the  better  social  order  that  was  to  come.  The 
Papacy,  now  finally  independent  of  the  East,  establishes 
its  political  power  in  Italy,  and  by  its  shrewd  alliance  with 
the  Prankish  kings  strengthens  itself  for  its  growth  and 
dominance  in  all  the  West  throughout  the  Middle  Ages. 


132  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

2.    GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  PREACHING  IN  THIS  TIME 

Preaching,  as  usual,  shared  and  to  some  extent  reflected 
the  character  of  the  age.  There  were  materials  and  quali- 
ties of  it  common  to  both  sections  of  the  church  and  world, 
but  at  the  risk  of  some  repetition  it  will  be  better  to  con- 
sider the  East  and  West  separately.  All  the  old  differ- 
ences— ethnic,  geographical,  political,  linguistic,  doctrinal 
— remained  and  were  emphasized  by  the  new  conditions, 
while  still  others  were  added.  The  preaching  of  the  East 
has  dropped  into  its  conservative  old  age,  and  its  general 
character  shows  little  change  for  centuries ;  while  that  of 
the  West,  though  in  a  sad  decay,  has  in  it  latent  forces 
destined  to  wonderful  and  varied  development  in  the 
course  of  time. 

In  the  Greek  Church  of  this  time  there  was  no  growth, 
but  there  was  some  ferment.  In  the  seventh  century  the 
monothelete  heresy — the  doctrine  that  the  person  Christ 
had  only  one  will  though  two  natures — racked  the  church 
as  had  done  the  more  famous  controversies  of  the  earlier 
times ;  and  in  the  eighth  the  zeal  of  the  iconoclastic — 
'image-breaking — emperors  and  their  followers  tore  church 
and  empire  in  twain  over  the  question  of  the  reverence  to 
be  paid  to  pictures  and  relics. 

Besides  these  controversies,  which,  of  course,  influenced 
the  clergy  and  preaching  of  the  times,  other  conditions 
affected  for  evil  the  sermons  addressed  to  the  people.  De- 
generacy and  corruption  infected  both  people  and  priest- 
hood. Fanaticism  was  flourishing,  superstition  abounded. 
Angels  and  saints,  images  and  relics  received  veneration 
which  amounted  to  worship,  while  the  special  emphasis 
which  had  long  been  given  to  the  worship  of  the  Virgin 
Mother  of  Jesus  becomes  excessive.  To  her  are  trans- 
ferred many  of  the  attributes  of  her  divine  Son,  and  some 
of  the  events  associated  with  his  incarnation  and  birth  are 
made  to  do  service  also  in  behalf  of  his  mother.  Thus 
her  miraculous  birth,  her  presentation  in  the  temple,  the 
doings  of  her  parents  are  treated  as  historical  and  im- 
portant. Christ  is  looked  upon  as  the  Judge  and  his 
glorified  mother  is  appealed  to  as  intercessor  and  mediator 
between  men  and  his  wrath.  Festivals  and  saints'  days 
abound,  many  of  the  sermons  that  have  come  down  to  us 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,    OR   DARK,   AGE  133 

are  occupied  with  these,  and  were  doubtless  regarded  as 
masterpieces  and  so  preserved.  Piety  had  fallen  still 
further — if  that  were  possible — into  formalism,  and 
Christian  virtue  into  regard  for  churchly  observances  and 
requirements.  What  sort  of  preaching  was  to  be  expected 
under  these  conditions  ? 

Theological  thinking  has  almost  gone.  John  of  Damas- 
cus stands  out  in  solitary  eminence  among  the  theologians 
of  the  age.  He  has  no  equal  among  his  contemporaries  or 
successors,  and  but  few  that  may  be  compared  to  him  at  all. 
The  exposition  of  Scripture  is  wretched.  Allegory  is  gone 
mad.  The  clergy  are  ignorant  as  well  as  corrupt,  the  ser- 
mons show  little  thought  and  less  learning.  Harangues 
on  the  saints,  the  images,  the  festivals,  and  chiefest  of  all 
on  the  Virgin,  take  the  place  of  the  exposition  of  the 
word  of  God.  Few  of  the  sermons  have  texts,  and  the 
quotation  and  application  of  Scripture  are  often  forced. 
Rothe  1  well  sums  up  the  situation  thus :  "  The  monkish 
spirit  prevails.  The  dogmatic  addresses  almost  wholly 
lack  the  didactic  element.  All  moved  about  the  idea  of  the 
miraculous  and  the  incomprehensible,  and  the  whole  aim 
of  the  preacher  seemed  to  be  to  awaken  astonishment  and 
admiration.  To  this  end  they  were  not  ashamed  to  get 
material  from  the  New  Testament  Apocrypha."  As  was 
to  be  expected,  the  style — bombastic,  wordy,  overstrained 
— fully  corresponds  to  the  content  of  these  decadent  homi- 
lies, and  we  look  almost  in  vain  for  specimens  of  real  ora- 
torical power. 

When  we  turn  to  the  West  we  find  a  different  and  in 
some  respects  more  hopeful  state  of  affairs.  It  is  sadly 
true  that  preaching  is  much  neglected — perhaps  even  more 
than  in  the  East — and  the  quality  and  contents  of  the 
preaching  are  no  whit  better  than  among  the  Greeks  of 
the  same  period.  But  there  are  both  circumstances  and 
elements  of  preaching  which  are  suggestive  of  better  days 
to  come,  even  though  as  yet  the  coming  i3  far  away. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  in  all  its  history  preaching 
was  at  its  lowest  stage  during  this  period.  But  though 
languishing  it  was  not  dead,  though  very  inferior  in  qual- 
ity it  was  not  wholly  bad. 

The  chaotic  state  of  European  society  during  the  sev- 

*Gesch.  d.Pred.,  S.  158. 


134  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

enth  and  eighth  centuries  was  not  favorable  to  preaching. 
Rude  barbarian  kings  and  lords  ruled  over  church  as  well 
as  state.  The  people  were  oppressed,  many  of  them  fear- 
fully ignorant  and  corrupt.  The  clergy  were  often  grossly 
ignorant,  and  sometimes  immoral.  Yet  these  very  things 
appealed  to  devout  churchmen  and  to  enlightened  states- 
men as  well,  and  earnest  efforts  were  made  to  improve  the 
state  of  affairs.  About  the  year  762  Chrodegang,  Arch- 
bishop of  Metz,  in  his  Regula  Canonicorum  (c.  44)  en- 
joins that  there  must  be  preaching,  presumably  in  all  the 
churches  of  his  diocese,  twice  a  month  at  least ;  and  better 
yet  on  every  fast  day  and  Lord's  day ;  and  that  the  preach- 
ing must  be  such  as  the  people  can  understand.  In  the 
Capitularia  x  of  Charlemagne  and  his  successors  numer- 
ous regulations  are  found  in  regard  to  the  character  and 
duties  of  the  clergy,  and  preaching  comes  in  for  its  share 
of  attention.  These  rules  are  found  as  early  as  the  year 
769.  There  is  much  insistence  upon  the  duty  of  preaching, 
and  even  the  material  of  the  sermons  is  prescribed  to  some 
extent ;  as  for  example,  priests  are  forbidden  "  to  feign 
and  preach  to  the  people,  out  of  their  own  understanding 
and  not  according  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,  new  or  un- 
canonical  things."  2  These  efforts  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighth  century  reveal  how  greatly  preaching  had  fallen 
both  as  to  frequency  and  quality.  We  shall  see  later  what 
effect  these  efforts  at  reform  had  upon  the  preaching  of 
the  following  times. 

Besides  these  praiseworthy  attempts  of  the  authorities 
to  improve  preaching  there  were  earnest  endeavors  on  the 
part  of  individual  priests  and  monks  here  and  there  to 
gather  the  people  together  and  preach  to  them.  These 
missionary  movements,  though  crude  and  imperfect,  were 
a  note  of  real  life  in  preaching,  and  had  in  them  the  pledge 
of  a  fruitful  future.  We  shall  see  more  of  this  phase  of 
preaching  further  on. 

The  clergy  and  preaching  of  the  age  have  been  very 
properly  classified  by  historians  into  parochial,  cloistral, 
and  missionary.  So  far  as  the  clergy  is  concerned  the 
classification,  though  proper,  cannot  be  rigid  or  exclusive. 
For  sometimes,  though  very  rarely,  a  parish  priest  or  even 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  97. 

'  Capit.  of  the  year  789 ;  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  97,  col.  182. 


THE   EARLY    MEDI/EVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  13$ 

a  bishop,  might  do  some  missionary  work,  or  be  called  on 
to  preach  in  a  monastery.  But  very  frequently  the  monks 
preached  in  the  parishes,  were  sometimes  made  prelates, 
and  were  distinctively  the  missionaries  of  the  age.  When 
it  comes  to  preaching  itself,  however,  the  distinction  is  ap- 
parent enough. 

Parochial  preaching  was  that  of  prelates  and  priests  in 
churches  to  the  people  gathered  on  Sundays,  saints'  days, 
festivals  and  other  occasions.  Strange  as  it  may  seem 
there  was  apparently  less  of  this  preaching  than  of  the 
other  kinds,  and  it  was  of  poorer  average  quality.  Many 
of  the  bishops  and  secular  priests  concerned  themselves 
very  little  with  preaching.  Partly  this  was  due  to  all  the 
elements  of  decline  which  affected  the  preaching  of  the 
age,  but  more  distinctively  to  the  encroachment  of  liturgi- 
cal worship  and  the  cares  of  administration,  which  we 
have  already  seen  growing  ,in  the  preceding  period. 

Cloistral  preaching,  as  the  name  indicates,  was  that 
done  in  monasteries,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  instruction 
and  exhortation  to  monks  and  nuns.  It  may  be  that  per- 
sons from  the  outside  were  sometimes  invited  or  permitted 
to  attend  some  of  these  services,  but  the  aim  and  charac- 
ter of  the  preaching  was  monastic.  The  preacher  might 
be  a  visiting  prelate  or  brother,  or,  very  frequently,  the 
abbot,  or  sometimes  a  brother  appointed  for  the  purpose. 
In  case  of  the  nunneries  the  preachers  were  usually  the 
prelates  under  whose  jurisdiction  the  institutions  lay,  or 
monks  of  the  related  orders  deputed  for  the  purpose.  In 
far  later  days  one  of  the  most  famous  preachers  of  the 
Franciscans  x  began  his  career  as  a  preacher  to  the  nuns 
of  the  associated  order.  Sometimes  these  sermons  were 
called  "  instructions,"  and  sometimes  "  collations,"  from 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  infrequently  given  while  the 
brethren  were  at  their  common  meal  in  the  refectory. 
Naturally  the  discourses  were  of  a  didactic  and  often  of  a 
mystical  character. 

In  addition  to  the  actual  cloistral  preaching  we  must 
take  some  account  of  the  influence  of  monasticism  upon 
preaching  generally.  For  it  was  great  and  lasting.  In  the 
widest  view  there  was  the  conceded  value  of  the  monas- 
teries as  refuges  and  preservers  of  learning  in  these  evil 
1  Berthold  of  Regensburg,  d.  1272. 


136  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

times.  The  monks  were  taught  in  the  cloistral  schools 
what  learning  there  was.  Some  of  these  schools  and 
their  teachers,  even  in  this  early  age  and  yet  more  in  later 
times,  became  and  remain  deservedly  famous.  The  mon- 
astic clergy  were  commonly  far  superior  both  in  morals 
and  learning  to  the  parish  priests.  From  the  monasteries 
went  forth  the  best  prepared  men  for  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, and  many  a  monk  became  a  distinguished  prelate. 
This  was  true  of  the  great  Spaniards  Leander  and  Isidore 
of  Seville  in  the  preceding  times,  and  of  Ildefonso  of  To- 
ledo in  the  period  now  under  review.1  Frequently  the 
monks  went  forth  to  preach  in  the  churches  and  also  as 
missionaries,  as  we  shall  presently  see  more  fully.  In  re- 
gard to  the  work  of  the  monks  in  England  Montalem- 
bert 2  gives  this  interesting  account :  "  It  is  then  to  the 
monks,  scattered  as  missionaries  and  preachers  over  the 
country,  or  united  in  the  numerous  communities  of  epis- 
copal cities  and  other  great  monastic  centres,  that  must  in 
justice  be  attributed  the  initiation  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
into  the  truths  of  religion They  were  ex- 
pressly commanded  to  teach  and  explain  to  their  flocks, 
in  the  vernacular  tongue,  the  Decalogue,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  sacred  words  which 
were  used  in  the  celebration  of  the  mass  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  baptism ;  to  expound  to  them  every  Sunday,  in 
English,  the  Epistle  and  Gospel  of  the  day,  and  to  preach, 
or  instead  of  preaching  to  read  them  something  useful  to 

their  souls From  this  spring  those  homilies 

in  Anglo-Saxon  which  are  so  often  to  be  met  with  among 
the  manuscripts  in  our  libraries,  and  which  are  by  several 
centuries  of  an  earlier  date  than  the  earliest  religious  docu- 
ments of  any  other  modern  language."  Since  the  brilliant 
Frenchman's  time  some  of  these  early  homilies  have 
been  edited  and  published  by  English  scholars.3 

Missionary  preaching  had  received  its  impulse  from  the 
work  of  Patrick  and  Columba  in  the  preceding  period. 

1  See  Montalembert,  Monks  of  the  West,  I.,  pp.  414-427. 

*  Op.  cit.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  608. 

8  See  Cutts,  Parish  Priests  and  Their  People  in  the  Middle  Ages 
in  England,  chaps.  II.,  III,.  V.,  XIV.,  and  especially  p.  223  for 
remarks  on  the  Saxon  homilies,  which,  however,  belong  to  a 
later  date  than  the  eighth  century.  We  shall  have  occasion  later 
to  deal  with  the  Old  English  Homilies,  edited  by  Morris. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       137 

In  this  time  it  found  noble  expression  in  the  labors  of 
Columban,  Gall,  Wilibrord,  Winfred  (Boniface),  and 
others.  It  appears  that  the  parochial  clergy  did  little  or 
nothing  of  this  sort  of  preaching,  though  the  good  work 
of  Eligius  of  Noyon,  who  was  never  a  monk,  is  a  brilliant 
exception  to  this  rule.  The  missionaries  were  principally 
monks. 

As  already  intimated  the  character  and  quality  of  West- 
ern preaching  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries  must 
be  rated  lower  than  at  any  previous  time.  After  the  fall 
from  Ambrose  and  Augustine  to  Gregory  I.  and  Caesarius 
of  Aries,  further  decay  would  seem  well  nigh  impossible. 
But  still  it  is  a  fact.  The  bishops  preached  but  little,  the 
common  parochial  clergy  even  less ;  what  preaching  there 
was  came  mostly  from  monks  and  missionaries.  The  ser- 
mons are  largely  imitations,  adaptations,  compilations,  and 
in  not  a  few  cases  direct  copies  of  the  older  discourses. 
The  faults  of  other  days  are  perpetuated  in  weak  repro- 
ductions, no  new  note  is  heard,  little  power  is  shown ; 
preaching  is  merely  holding  on  to  its  traditions  with  a 
feeble  grasp  and  waiting  for  better  days. 

In  form  the  sermons  are  still  the  structureless  hortatory 
homilies  of  other  days.  They  are  usually  very  short.  The 
style  is  not  uniform ;  quotations  and  imitations  from  older 
models  preserve  the  manner  of  the  later  Latin  fathers  to 
some  extent ;  and  of  course  individuals  differ  in  their  use 
of  the  current  church  Latin;  but  the  general  inference 
from  all  this  is  in  accord  with  the  facts — there  is  no  style 
to  speak  of  at  all,  no  strength,  life,  beauty,  or  eloquence. 

In  contents  the  Latin  sermons  are  no  better  than  the 
Greek.  The  Scriptural  exposition  is  forced  and  allegori- 
cal, often  helplessly  puerile.  Of  deep  and  powerful  think- 
ing there  are  scanty  if  any  specimens.  Saints'  tales  and 
marvels,  extravagant  laudation  of  the  Virgin  and  of  relics 
are  largely  in  evidence.  Some  gospel  is  preached,  how- 
ever, and  the  moral  teaching  is  for  the  most  part  correct 
and  earnest.  The  monastic  and  churchly  virtues  receive 
too  great  emphasis  relatively  to  other  things.  We  should 
remember,  however,  that  accounts  of  the  effect  of  preach- 
ing at  times  upon  its  auditors  give  us  a  better  impression 
of  its  actual  power  than  we  are  able  to  gather  from  the 
tame  Latin  reports  of  sermons  which  have  come  down  to 


138  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

us.  There  was  doubtless  both  better  and  worse  preaching 
than  the  preserved  discourses  exhibit. 

Latin  was  the  prevalent  language  of  preaching.  All 
the  discourses  of  this  time  are  preserved  only  in  that 
tongue;  the  Anglo-Saxon  homilies  mentioned  before  be- 
long to  a  later  date,  and  there  are  none  as  early  as  those 
in  any  other  of  the  nascent  languages  of  modern  times. 
But  still,  even  in  this  early  time — the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries — there  are  traces  that  at  least  some  of  the  popu- 
lar preaching  was  done  in  the  vernacular  dialects.  Thus 
Bede  1  tells  how  King  Oswald  of  Northumbria  interpreted 
Aidan's  preaching  to  his  court,  and  how  "  Paulinus 
preached  all  day  long  to  the  people,"  presumably  either 
directly  or  by  an  interpreter,  and  how  Cuthbert  "  was 
wont  chiefly  to  visit  the  villages  ....  to  allure 
the  rustic  people  by  his  eloquent  preaching  to  heavenly 
employments."  In  France,  or  Flanders,  Eligius  of  Noyon, 
who  will  be  noticed  later,  distinctly  says  in  one  of  his  ser- 
mons :  "  Therefore  we  address  you  in  rustic  speech 
(rustico  sermone)  ;"  and  in  another,  "  Therefore  we  turn 
to  you  using  a  simple  and  rustic  speech  (eloquio}J'z  This 
is  not  perfectly  conclusive,  since  it  may  refer  to  the  bad 
Latin  and  harsh  prounciation  of  the  common  people  as 
distinguished  from  the  more  cultured,  but  it  is  at  least  an 
indication  of  the  use  of  vernacular  speech  in  the  Frankish 
countries  in  the  seventh  century.  In  Switzerland,  as  we 
shall  see,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Gall  early  in  the 
seventh  century  made  some  use  of  the  native  dialects  in 
his  preaching.  This  interesting  and  somewhat  difficult 
question  of  the  extent  of  the  use  of  the  rising  modern 
languages  in  the  preaching  of  the  Middle  Ages  will  come 
up  again  and  again  as  we  proceed  to  follow  the  history,  but 
this  much  concerning  the  earliest  traces  of  such  use  it  is 
proper  to  state  here. 

From  this  general  account  of  the  preaching  of  the  two 
centuries  under  review  we  must  proceed  to  give  brief  no- 
tices of  some  of  the  more  important  preachers  of  the  age 
in  both  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches. 

1  See  Cutts,  Parish  Priests,  etc.,  pp.  21-24. 

s  Quoted  by  Cruel,  Geschichte  der  Dcutschen  Predigt  des  Mittel- 
atlers,  S.  9,  who  says :  "  The  Latin  language  therefore  belongs 
here,  as  in  all  similar  cases,  only  to  the  written  report,  and  not  to 
the  public  delivery."  This  seems  an  allowable  inference,  but  it 
should  not  be  pressed  too  far  for  reasons  mentioned  in  the  text. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  139 

3.     PREACHERS  OF  THE  GREEK  CnuRCH.1 

There  is  no  occasion  for  a  classification  of  the  Greek 
preachers  of  the  epoch ;  but  a  few  of  the  better  known 
will  be  mentioned  in  their  chronological  order.  Very 
little  is  known  of  Sophronius  except  that  he  was  orig- 
inally a  Sophist,  then  a  monk,  and  became  patriarch  of 
Jerusalem  about  the  year  634.  He  was  early  and  late  a 
strong  opponent  of  the  Monothelete  doctrine.  Four  ser- 
mons are  ascribed  to  him,  their  subjects  being  as  follows : 
(i)  On  the  Birth  of  Christ;  (2)  Panegyric  on  the 
Angels;  (3)  and  (4)  On  the  Adoration  of  the  Cross. 
They  are  declamatory  in  style  and  excessively  panegyrical 
in  tone.  For  example,  the  cross  is  apostrophized  and 
called  on  in  a  long  prayer  to  show  forth  its  manifold 
power. 

A  certain  George  of  Pisidia  comes  into  view  about  the 
year  640  as  archbishop  of  Nicomedia,  having  previously 
been  known  as  a  deacon  and  librarian  at  Constantinople. 
From  him  we  have  some  poetical  and  historical  writings 
and  nine  sermons.  They  treat  of  the  conception  of  Mary 
and  of  her  mother ;  of  the  birth  of  Mary,  and  her  presen- 
tation in  the  Temple;  and  of  her  being  at  the  cross  and 
the  tomb  of  the  Lord.  They  show  the  prevalent  tendency 
to  give  to  Mary  not  only  some  of  the  attributes  and  offices 
of  her  Son,  but  even  to  ascribe  parallel  facts  to  her  birth 
and  infancy.  Some  of  the  tales  are  taken  from  the  Apo- 
cryphal writings.  Besides  these  discourses  on  Mary  there 
is  a  panegyrical  sermon  on  the  saints  Cosmas  and  Damian. 
Of  the  whole  collection  Rothe  says :  "  All  these  addresses 
are  empty  declamations  without  content  and  without 
thought,  overloaded  with  picturings,  exclamations,  rhe- 
torical figures,  and  emphasis.  They  could  only  tickle 
spoiled  ears,  but  not  teach  or  edify  hearts." 

A  man  of  more  note  is  Andrew,  who,  toward  the  end 
of  his  life,  early  in  the  eighth  century,  was  archbishop  of 
Crete.  He  was  born  in  Damascus,  where  his  early  educa- 
tion was  received.  About  the  year  635  he  became  a  monk 
at  Jerusalem,  and  must  have  lived  there  a  long  time,  for 

1  For  the  following  discussion  the  author  is  chiefly  indebted  to 
Rothe's  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  sections  57-63 ;  though  something 
has  been  derived  from  other  authorities,  and  something  also  from 
the  original  sources  as  given  in  Migne's  Greek  Patrology. 


140  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

at  the  council  of  680,  which  condemned  Monotheletism,  he 
was  the  representative  of  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  After 
the  council  he  was  kept  at  Constantinople,  ordained  a 
deacon,  and  put  in  charge  of  an  orphanage,  and  later 
was  made  archbishop  of  the  island  of  Crete.  He  was  a 
man  of  considerable  talent,  being  something  of  a  commen- 
tator and  also  a  hymn-writer.  One  of  his  hymns  has  be- 
come somewhat  familiar  to  modern  singers  in  Neale's 
vigorous  adaptation  rather  than  translation : 

"  Christian,  dost  thou  see  them 

On  the  holy  ground, 
How  the  powers  of  evil 

Rage  thy  steps  around  ? 
Christian,  up  and  smite  them, 

Counting  gain  but  loss, 
Smite  them  by  the  merit 

Of  the  holy  cross." 

As  a  preacher  Andrew  has  perhaps  better  claim  to 
notice  than  any  of  his  contemporaries.  Seventeen  homilies 
are  ascribed  to  him,  but  at  least  one  and  possibly  others  are 
of  doubtful  genuineness.  They  are  characteristic  of  the 
times,  being  mostly  concerned  with  Mary  and  the  saints. 
One  of  these  whom  he  eulogizes  is  naturally  enough  his 
first  predecessor  as  bishop  of  Crete — Titus !  One  of  the 
sermons  treats  of  the  Transfiguration,  one  of  the  raising 
of  Lazarus,  two  of  the  exaltation  of  the  holy  cross.  His 
veneration  of  the  Virgin  is  of  the  most  extreme  sort.  Ac- 
cording to  Rothe  "  he  calls  her  the  diadem  of  beauty,  the 
queen  of  our  race,  the  holy  temple  of  Christ,  the  rod  of 
Aaron,  the  root  of  Jesse,  the  sceptre  of  David,  the  media- 
trix of  law  and  grace,  the  seal  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament,  the  expected  salvation  of  the  heathen,  the 
common  refuge  of  all  Christians,  the  restoration  from  the 
first  fall,  the  bringing  back  of  the  fallen  race  to  freedom 
from  suffering,  and  much  of  the  same  sort."  But  with 
all  these  faults  there  is  a  certain  elevation  of  thought  and 
expression,  and  certainly  some  oratorical  power.  He  ex- 
hibits one  peculiarity  of  the  preaching  of  all  this  time, 
that  is,  putting  extensive  imaginary  speeches  into  the 
mouths  of  Bible  characters,  the  angels,  and  even  God. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       141 

There  meets  us  in  this  time  the  name  of  a  certain  Ger- 
manus,  who  is  said  to  have  lived  about  a  hundred  years 
(634-0.  734).  He  first  appears  as  bishop  of  Cyzicus,  then 
about  715  as  patriarch  of  Constantinople.  From  this  office 
he  was  driven  into  exile  by  the  iconoclastic  emperor  Leo 
about  the  year  730,  and  died  soon  after.  He  was  a  zealous 
partisan  of  the  image-worship,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by 
the  Greek  church  as  one  who  suffered  for  his  convictions. 
There  remain  from  him  a  few  religious  poems  and  some 
other  writings.  Among  these  are  a  number  of  sermons, 
many  of  which  are  devoted  to  extravagant  praise  of  the 
Virgin.  In  one  of  them  is  a  long  conversation  between 
the  angel  Gabriel,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  Joseph,  in  which 
Joseph  makes  accusations  against  Mary  and  she  defends 
herself.  In  another  he  declares  that  Mary  soon  after  her 
death  was  raised  again  and  taken  bodily  to  heaven.  The 
style  is  much  like  that  of  Andrew  of  Crete,  and  there  is 
evidence  of  real  oratorical  talent. 

By  far  the  most  important  and  interesting  man  of  the 
mediaeval  Greek  church  is  John  of  Damascus  (d.  c.  754, 
or  later),1  sometimes  called  by  his  Arabian  name  of  Man- 
sur,  or  Momsur.  It  is  rather  as  a  man,  a  theologian,  a 
writer,  than  as  a  preacher  that  he  is  justly  famous.  Judged 
by  his  sermons  alone  he  could  not  be  reckoned  among  the 
great  preachers  of  history,  nor  very  far  above  his  con- 
temporaries, yet  his  greatness  in  the  other  respects  men- 
tioned makes  him  altogether  the  most  notable  Greek 
preacher  after  Chrysostom.  His  admirers  have  vainly 
sought  to  place  him  alongside  the  great  Antiochene  by 
surnaming  him  Chrysorrhoas,  "  the  golden  current." 

The  story  of  his  life,  as  accepted  after  his  own  times, 
contains  miraculous  and  fabulous  elements  which  throw 
some  doubt  upon  that  part  of  the  narrative  which  is  not 
of  itself  improbable.  The  accounts  say  that  he  was  born 
in  Damascus  the  latter  part  of  the  seventh  century,  the 
son  of  a  Christian  named  Sergius,  who  served  the  Arab 
caliph  as  treasurer  and  stood  high  in  the  ruler's  favor. 
John's  education  was  received  from  one  Cosmas,  a  pious 
and  learned  Italian  monk,  who  had  been  captured  by  the 

1  The  date  lies  between  754  and  787.  His  latest  writing  is  of  the 
earlier  date,  and  his  death  is  noted  by  the  second  Nicene  Council 
in  787.  Article  in  Herzog. 


142  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Arabs  in  a  foray  and  sold  as  a  slave  at  Damascus.  Sergius 
ransomed  the  saintly  man  and  set  him  to  educate  his  own 
son  John  and  also  an  adopted  son  called  Cosmas,  proba- 
bly after  the  teacher.  Both  pupils  did  well,  and  John 
especially  distinguished  himself,  learning  grammar, 
philosophy,  mathematics  and  theology.  His  father  having 
died,  John  was  appointed  by  the  Caliph  to  high  office. 
Now  comes  a  highly  wrought  story  from  which  it  is  hard 
to  get  the  kernel  of  truth  which  probably  lies  within  it. 
On  account  of  his  defence  of  the  image  worship,  the 
emperor  of  Constantinople  falsely,  by  use  of  a  forged  let- 
ter, informs  the  Caliph  that  John  is  a  traitor ;  whereupon 
the  Caliph  has  John  arrested  and  causes  his  right  hand 
to  be  cut  off.  John  begs  that  the  hand  be  left  with  him  in 
the  prison,  and  in  answer  to  prayer  the  Virgin  joins  the 
hand  back  to  the  wrist  during  the  night.  The  Caliph  is 
overcome  by  this  miracle,  pardons  John  and  wants  to  re- 
store him  to  his  office ;  but  John  refuses  and  leaves  Damas- 
cus. 

Whatever  the  cause  may  have  been,  John  did  leave  his 
native  city  and  the  service  of  the  Caliph  and  entered  as  a 
novice  the  famous  monastery  of  St.  Sabas  near  Jerusalem. 
Here  it  is  related  that  the  brethren  had  so  profound  an 
impression  of  his  learning  that  none  would  undertake  to 
be  his  teacher,  until  at  last  upon  certain  conditions  an  old 
and  austere  monk  agreed  to  receive  him  into  his  cell  as  a 
pupil.  We  need  not  follow  the  details  of  his  severe  train- 
ing in  self-abasement.  Finally,  it  is  said,  the  Holy  Virgin 
appeared  in  a  dream  to  the  old  monk  and  bade  him  remove 
the  restriction  he  had  placed  upon  John's  writing,  as  she 
had  need  of  his  talents  in  her  service  and  that  of  the 
church.  Henceforth  his  literary  labors  are  great ;  his 
numerous  writings  show  diligent  activity.  He  was  or- 
dained a  presbyter  by  the  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  was 
frequently  called  upon  to  teach  and  preach  in  the  city. 
It  is  probable  also  that  he  preached  upon  occasion  in 
other  places.  Thus  with  his  writings  and  his  preaching 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  at  St.  Sabas,  where 
he  died  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century. 

His  extensive  writings  embrace  works  on  the  image 
controversy,  and  on  theology,  some  hymns,  and  some  ora- 
tions and  sermons.  His  greatest  theological  work,  "  The 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,    OR  DARK,   AGE  143 

Fount  of  Knowledge,"  is  a  useful  epitome  of  the  Greek 
theology  and  is  still  an  authority  in  the  Greek  Church. 
He  used  the  Aristotelian  logic,  and  is  thus  in  some  sense 
the  pioneer  of  the  great  Latin  schoolmen  of  a  later  age, 
who  are  much  indebted  to  him.  He  wrote  a  number  of 
hymns,  still  prized  in  the  Eastern  church;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  interest  that  his  adoptive  brother  and  fellow 
pupil  Cosmas  was  his  companion  and  colaborer  in  this 
work.1  Neale  has  put  us  in  his  debt  by  admirable  repro- 
ductions of  several  of  these,  "  The  Day  of  Resurrection  " 
being  the  best  known. 

John's  sermons  are  not  free  from  the  errors  of  his  time 
— forced  allegorical  interpretation,  excessive  veneration 
of  the  Virgin,  highly  wrought  panegyrics  on  the  saints. 
There  is  little  of  theological  or  moral  teaching  in  them ; 
they  are  unnecessarily  prolix,  but  they  are  clear  and 
forcible  in  expression  and  show  the  logical,  scholastic  bent 
of  his  mind.  Such  as  they  are,  they  served  as  models 
for  later  Greek  preachers  and  found  many  imitators.  An 
extract  from  his  sermon  on  the  withered  fig  tree  may  give 
a  hint  of  his  method.  After  a  stilted  introduction  dealing 
with  the  incarnation  he  proceeds  to  say :  "  Wherefore  then 
as  he  was  partaker  and  sharer  of  the  [divine]  nature  (for 
the  nature  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  is  one),  so,  as 
it  were,  he  serves  the  will  of  the  household  and  becomes 
man  and  is  obedient  to  the  Father  even  to  death,  and  that 
the  death  of  the  cross,  all  for  the  purpose  of  healing  my 
disobedience !  He  comes,  then,  hastening  to  suffer  and 
hurrying  to  drink  the  cup  of  death,  whence  is  the  salva- 
tion of  all  the  world.  He  comes  hungering  for  the 
salvation  of  humanity,  and  finds  not  fruit  in  it — for  this  is 
what  the  fig  tree,  as  in  a  parable,  obscurely  teaches." 
Then  he  goes  on  to  develop  this  thought,  repudiating  the 
literal  interpretation. 

Theodore  Studites  (759-826)  was  born  at  Constanti- 
nople about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  and  came 
of  a  good  family.  He  had  an  uncle,  Plato,  who  was 
abbot  of  a  monastery  and  induced  Theodore  and  other 
members  of  the  family  to  take  up  the  monastic  life. 
Theodore  became  very  ascetic  and  was  highly  esteemed 
by  his  brother  monks.  Against  his  wishes  he  was  or~ 

1  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  406, 


144  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

dained  a  presbyter  in  784.  He  had  trouble  with  the  em- 
perors both  on  moral  subjects  and  in  regard  to  the  ven- 
eration of  the  images.  He  was  several  times  banished, 
and  often  cruelly  treated.  From  797  to  802  he  was  in 
favor  at  court,  and  at  the  request  of  the  empress  Irene — 
the  zealous  champion  of  the  holy  icons — he  became  head 
of  the  famous  monastery  of  the  Studium  at  Constanti- 
nople. He  reorganized  this  and  made  it  the  most  re- 
nowned of  all  the  Greek  cloisters  of  the  age.  Hence 
comes  his  surname. 

There  remains  from  him  a  collection  of  a  hundred  and 
thirty-five  short  addresses  to  the  monks,  which  are  with- 
out text,  mostly  hortatory,  and  inculcating  the  monastic 
virtues.  These  discourses  were  very  highly  esteemed  and 
were  for  a  long  time  read  in  some  of  the  churches  in 
connection  with  public  worship.  Besides  these  homilies 
there  are  also  sermons  of  all  sorts  on  the  much-used 
subjects  of  the  day,  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  the  exal- 
tation of  the  cross,  and  the  like.  They  are  wholly  in  the 
taste  and  manner  of  the  age,  full  of  superstitions,  saints' 
legends,  forced  figures  and  empty  declamation.  However 
admired  in  their  own  times,  they  bring  no  good  message 
to  ours. 

4.     PREACHERS  AMONG  THE  ROMAN  CLERGY 

Turning  our  attention  now  to  the  West  we  shall  find 
it  both  proper  and  convenient  to  use  the  classification  of 
parochial,  cloistral,  and  missionary,  although  as  already 
stated  the  distinction  in  case  of  the  preachers  is  not  so 
clear  as  in  the  preaching.  Only  a  few  of  each  group  can 
be  noticed. 

Of  those  who  represent  the  parochial  clergy  one  of 
the  best  was  the  Spaniard  Ildefonso  (607-667),  who  was 
born  at  Toledo  of  parents  of  noble  birth  and  rank.  In  his 
youth  he  was  taught  by  the  famous  Isidore  of  Seville. 
Against  his  father's  will  he  entered  the  monastery  of 
Agali,  which  was  the  most  noted  one  of  that  age  in  Spain, 
and  was  the  seat  of  learning  and  culture.  Here  Ildefonso 
was  for  a  long  time  resident,  first  as  monk  and  then  as 
abbot.  He  took  prominent  part  in  several  synods,  and 
was  distinguished  for  the  purity  of  his  own  character 
and  for  severe  discipline  of  others.  In  657  he  was,  re- 
luctantly on  his  own  part,  made  archbishop  of  Toledo. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,    OR   DARK,   AGE  145 

He  was  a  faithful  bishop,  but  was  sorely  harassed  by 
many  trials  and  conflicts  in  that  age  of  turmoil.  Arian- 
ism  and  the  hostility  of  the  king  were  not  the  least  of 
his  troubles.  He  filled  his  high  office  for  a  little  more 
than  nine  years,  and  died  greatly  esteemed  by  the  Spanish 
Catholics. 

His  best  known  work  is  a  treatise  against  three  un- 
believers concerning  the  virginity  of  Mary.1  He  was  a 
most  ardent  upholder  of  all  the  exaggerated  Catholic 
doctrines  concerning  the  mother  of  our  Lord.  The 
treatise  is  highly  rhetorical,  not  to  say  bombastic,  in  style, 
and  gives  us  no  doubt  a  better  idea  of  Ildefonso's  preach- 
ing than  the  doubtful  sermons  which  are  ascribed  to  him. 
His  reputation  as  a  preacher  was  considerable,  and  he 
must  have  had  a  fervid  temperament  and  the  oratorical 
fire ;  but  if  the  writing  on  Mary  is  a  fair  specimen  of  his 
work  he  did  not  fall  below  many  of  the  oriental  preachers 
of  the  time  in  the  excess  of  his  adulation  of  the  Virgin. 

Decidedly  one  of  the  most  engaging  characters  of  this 
age  was  the  Frenchman  Eligius  (  588-658  )2,  long  a  cour- 
tier of  several  of  the  early  Merovingian  kings,  and  in  his 
later  life  bishop  of  Noyon  in  Picardy.  He  was  born  near 
Limoges  of  a  pious  family,  and  was  well  brought  up  from 
childhood.  Apprenticed  to  a  goldsmith,  who  had  charge 
of  the  royal  mint  at  Limoges,  Eligius  greatly  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  fidelity  and  skill  in  his  calling. 
Meantime  he  was  constant  in  his  religious  duties,  and — a 
truly  remarkable  thing  for  a  layman  in  that  age — a  care- 
ful student  of  the  Scriptures.  After  a  while  he  left 
Limoges  and  went  to  Paris,  then  the  capital  of  the  Neus- 
trian  Franks.  Because  of  his  skill  as  a  goldsmith,  his 
honesty  and  excellent  character,  he  became  a  great  fa- 
vorite with  King  Clotaire  II.  Eligius  was  not  corrupted 
by  royal  favor  nor  by  the  accumulation  of  wealth.  In 
outward  things,  such  as  dress  and  manners,  he  con- 
formed for  a  time  to  the  world  about  him.  But  this  was 
for  policy  rather  than  liking,  for  in  his  heart  he  was 
unworldly,  even  ascetic.  As  soon  as  he  could  do  so  with 
prudence  he  began  to  show  his  real  feelings  in  these  mat- 
ters, laying  aside  his  costly  clothing  and  dressing  with 
exceeding  plainness.  He  gave  much  to  the  poor;  he 

1  Given  in  Migne's  Latin  Patrology. 

"Vita,  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  87,  col.  47833. 


146  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

labored  for  the  spread  of  Christian  knowledge,  and  on 
his  journeys  frequently  spoke  and  gave  instruction  in  the 
Bible  as  a  sort  of  lay  evangelist;  he  founded  cloisters 
based  on  the  strictest  discipline.  Thus  in  various  ways 
he  used  his  influence  at  court,  his  personal  wealth,  and 
his  own  time  and  efforts  to  advance  the  cause  of  religion 
as  he  understood  it. 

When  Dagobert  succeeded  Clotaire  as  king  he  retained 
his  father's  affection  for  Eligius  and  reposed  so  much 
confidence  in  the  pious  goldsmith  as  frequently  to  con- 
sult him  on  affairs  of  state.  This  was  naturally  not 
agreeable  to  the  more  worldly  courtiers,  and  least  of  all 
to  the  ambitious  mayors  of  the  palace,  who  were  already 
rising  to  the  power  which  later  resulted  in  their  usurpa- 
tion of  royal  prerogatives  and  finally  of  the  royal  title. 
The  next  king,  Louis  II.,  was  more  under  the  influence 
of  his  mayor  of  the  palace,  and  the  removal  of  the  good 
goldsmith  from  the  court  was  the  next  thing  in  order.  To 
the  credit  of  all  concerned  let  it  be  said  that  instead  of 
murder  or  false  accusation  the  happy  expedient  was  hit 
upon  of  making  Eligius  a  bishop  and  giving  him  a  fron- 
tier diocese!  So  the  good  man  was  duly  consecrated  a 
bishop  and  assigned  to  a  region  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  France  bordering  on  the  Belgic  provinces,  later  known 
as  Picardy,  with  the  town  of  Noyon  as  its  chief  city  and 
the  residence  of  the  bishop. 

Thus  inducted  into  office  the  bishop  of  Noyon  proved 
to  be  a  capable  and  faithful  prelate,  discharging  the  du- 
ties of  his  higher  trust  with  all  the  fidelity  and  diligence 
which  had  distinguished  him  in  his  active  business  life. 
Now  also  his  former  Bible  studies  and  lay  preaching 
stood  him  in  good  stead  as  a  preacher,  and  his  relations 
to  the  monasteries  he  had  founded  helped  him  in  the 
administration  of  affairs  in  his  diocese.  He  had  need 
of  his  previous  experience,  for  the  difficulties  and  oppo- 
sition encountered  in  his  work  taxed  all  his  resources 
and  courage.  Sixteen  sermons  of  somewhat  dubious  au- 
thenticity are  ascribed  to  him.1  They  exhibit  no  origi- 
nality of  thought,  but  have  a  certain  warmth  and  earnest- 
ness. The  account  of  his  life  indicates  that  he  preached 
much  and  believed  in  it.  He  sometimes  used  the  "  rustic 
speech,"  and  preached  to  heathen  as  well  as  to  his  flock. 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  87,  col.  594  ss.,  adduced  by  Rothe. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       147 

Among  those  who  preached  chiefly  to  the  monks,  or 
whose  remaining  sermons  at  least  are  chiefly  cloistral,  the 
preeminent  name  in  this  period  is  that  of  the  saintly 
Saxon  monk  Bede  (672-735),  or  Bseda,  whom  history 
delights  to  honor  with  the  title  of  Venerable.  He  was 
born  in  the  north  of  England  at  or  near  Yarrow.  In 
early  childhood  he  was  put  into  the  monastery  of  St. 
Peter  at  Wearmouth,  and  later  transferred  to  that  of  St. 
Paul  at  Yarrow.  These  monasteries  and  their  neighbor- 
hood were  the  scene  of  his  life  and  labors.  His  teacher, 
Benedict  Biscop,  was  a  wealthy  nobleman  who  had  turned 
monk  and  supplied  the  monastery  with  books.  Bede  was 
an  apt  and  diligent  scholar  and  became  well  versed  in  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  Latin  Fathers,  and  in  other  branches 
of  current  learning.  When  he  was  nineteen  years  old, 
though  under  canonical  age,  he  was  made  a  deacon,  and 
at  thirty  was  ordained  priest.  He  was  invited  to  go  to 
Rome  to  study  and  be  in  line  for  preferment,  he  was 
offered  the  abbacy  of  his  convent ;  but  he  declined  both 
of  these  flattering  offers  and  devoted  himself  to  learning 
and  to  the  work  of  a  teacher  and  preacher.  He  was  a 
great  and  much  beloved  teacher,  and  a  voluminous  author. 
His  best  known  and  most  valuable  work  is  his  Ecclesi- 
astical History  of  the  Saxons,  which  has  been  for  ages 
one  of  the  most  prized  sources  for  the  history  of  the 
early  Saxon  period  in  England. 

As  a  preacher  Bede  was  active  and  faithful,  preaching 
mostly  in  the  cloister,  but  also  to  the  people.  Of  the  ex- 
tant sermons  ascribed  to  him  there  are  a  great  number,1 
but  probably  many  of  them  are  spurious.  Being  chiefly 
reports  of  sermons  to  the  monks,  they  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  fair  specimen  of  his  popular  power.  They  are  monk- 
ish and  dry,  and  full  of  extracts  from  the  Fathers,  espe- 
cially Gregory  the  Great.  The  Scripture  exposition  is,  of 
course,  allegorical,  but  in  other  respects  fairly  good.  The 
style  is  clear  and  usually  easy,  with  some  warmth  but  not 
much  power.2 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  94,  col.  9  ss. ;  and  some  translations  in 
Neale's  Mediaval  Preaching,  p.  2  ff. 

2  Here  is  a  striking  saying  from  his  sermon  on  the  Baptism  of 
Jesus,  where  discussing  John's  unwillingness  to  baptize  his  Lord, 
he    says :  "  Sed    quia    vera    humilitas    ipsa    est    quam    obedientia 
comes  non  deserit,  quod  prius  officium  expavit  humiliter  explevit.'' 
Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  94,  col.  59. 


148  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

In  Migne's  Patrology  *  are  given  a  brief  account  and 
some  sermons  of  Ambrosius  Autpertus  (d.  c.  779).  The 
sermons  are  not  certainly  genuine,  but  they  have  some 
real  homiletic  merits,  though  afflicted  with  the  usual 
faults  of  that  age.  Little  is  given  as  to  Aubert's  life.  He 
was  born  in  Gaul,  but  became  a  monk  in  the  monastery 
of  St.  Vincent  in  Volturno,  Italy.  It  is  related  that  he 
suffered  from  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  which  was 
miraculously  removed  in  answer  to  prayer,  and  that  he 
became  a  fluent  and  eloquent  speaker.  He  was  made 
abbot  of  St.  Vincent,  and  was  evidently  held  in  high 
esteem  both  as  man  and  preacher.  One  of  the  sermons 
considered  to  be  his  is  a  rather  striking  discussion  of  cu- 
pidity. The  preacher  shows  (on  the  basis  of  I.  Tim.  6  :io) 
that  avarice  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  hard  to  eradicate,  the 
source  of  pride,  idolatry,  envy,  oppression,  robbery,  and 
other  sins ;  and  yet  the  effort  must  be  made  to  tear  this 
evil  root  out  of  the  life.  He  makes  effective  warning  in 
conclusion,  and  exhorts  to  almsgiving. 

There  were  a  number  of  monkish  missionary  preachers 
in  the  age  we  are  studying,  but  only  the  most  famous 
three  will  receive  notice  in  our  necessarily  brief  discus- 
sion— Columban,  Gall,  Boniface.2 

Columban  (c.  540-c.  615),  so  called  to  distinguish  him 
from  the  first  Columba,  who  founded  the  famous  monas- 
tery at  the  isle  of  lona,  on  the  Scotch  coast,  is  also  known 
as  Columba  the  Younger,  or  Columba  of  Luxeuil,  from 
the  abbey  he  founded  in  France.  The  name  means  in 
Latin  "  a  dove,"  and  was  probably  given  to  or  adopted 
by  the  first  Columba  as  a  distinctive  surname,  and  came 
to  the  second  from  the  first,  most  usually  in  the  form  Co- 
lumban. He  was  born  in  the  Leinster  district  of  Ireland, 
was  a  fine,  studious  lad,  and  early  entered  the  famous 
abbey  of  Bangor,  where  he  studied  till  he  was  thirty 
years  old.  At  that  age  he  felt  his  call  to  go  forth  as  a 
missionary  and  founder  of  cloisters  to  be  centers  of 
evangelistic  labors  among  the  rude  and  half-heathen 

1  Tom.  89,  col.  1265  ss. 

"Besides  other  authorities,  and  the  sources,  the  author  has 
used  with  great  profit  the  able  and  satisfactory  work  of  R.  Cruel, 
Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Predigt  im  Mittelalter,  and  the  brilliant 
and  scholarly  but  withal  somewhat  onesided  and  tendential  work 
of  F.  R.  Albert,  Geschichte  der  Predigt  in  Deutschland  bis  Luther. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIAEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       149 

people  of  central  Europe.  About  the  year  590  he  took 
with  him  twelve  pupils  as  companions  and  went  forth  to 
labor  in  the  mountain  region  of  France  and  in  Switzer- 
land. He  first  established  a  monastery  in  the  Vosges 
mountains  at  Anegratis.  It  was  a  wild  and  desolate 
country,  and  there  was  a  struggle  to  maintain  life.  But 
after  the  first  trials  the  abbey  throve  and  became  so  full 
of  monks  and  pupils  that  Columban  decided  to  move  on 
and  establish  another  at  Luxuvium,  the  modern  Luxeuil. 
Later  still  another  was  founded  at  Fontaines.  All  these 
were  in  the  territories  of  the  Burgundian  kingdom. 

From  these  cloisters  as  centers  Columban  and  his  pu- 
pils went  forth  to  labor  among  the  people  for  their  con- 
version and  spiritual  training.  After  more  than  twenty 
years  of  earnest  labors,  having  incurred  the  enmity  of  the 
famous  Burgundian  queen  Brunhilda,  of  the  king,  her 
grandson,  and  of  certain  bishops,  he  was  banished  from 
Burgundy  and  went  into  Switzerland.  Here  he  labored 
for  some  years  under  the  protection  of  the  Austrasian 
king  Theodebert ;  but  on  the  latter's  overthrow  by  an- 
other branch  of  the  Franks  he  went  to  Italy.  Here,  amid 
the  Apennines,  he  founded  his  last  monastery,  that  of 
Bobbio,  the  refuge  of  his  last  year  of  life  and  the  scene 
of  his  death  in  615. 

None  of  Columban's  sermons  to  the  people  have  come 
down  to  us,  but  there  have  been  preserved  in  Latin  fifteen 
or  sixteen  addresses,  mostly  to  the  monks,  called  the 
Instructions  of  St.  Columban.1  Thus  .  while  he  was 
a  noted  and  laborious  missionary,  these  sermons,  or 
rather  brief  reports  of  sermons,  belong  to  the  cloistral 
class.  They  deal  chiefly  with  the  moral  and  saintly  vir- 
tues. The  first  treats  of  the  Trinity,  the  second  of  morti- 
fying vices  and  attaining  virtues,  the  third  of  hating  the 
world,  and  of  love  for  heavenly  things,  the  fourth  holds 
that  a  man  must  labor  in  this  life  in  order  to  rest  in  the 
life  to  come,  the  fifth  that  life  is  not  properly  a  life  (vita), 
but  only  a  way  (via),  the  sixth  that  this  life  is  like  a 
shadow,  and  so  on.  There  are  in  them  some  great  moral 
truths  and  Scriptural  ideas,  many  striking  expressions, 
but  of  course  there  is  much  that  is  forced,  allegorical, 
monkish,  and  unscriptural.  The  piety  and  earnestness  of 
the  man  are  manifest  in  his  work. 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  80,  col.  229  ss. 


150  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

The  most  famous  of  the  twelve  pupils  who  accom- 
panied Columban  from  Ireland  was  Gallus  (c.  550-640), 
or  Gallun,  whom  we  know  best  by  his  abbreviated  name, 
Gall.  He  was  of  good  Irish  family  and  had  been  for 
some  time  a  student  of  Columban's  at  Bangor  before 
they  together  went  to  Burgundy.  He  was  active  with 
Columban  in  all  his  labors,  and  was  most  useful  to  him 
as  an  assistant.  Gall  was  gifted  in  language  and  had 
learned  while  in  Burgundy  the  so-called  "  Alemanic " 
tongue,  the  dialect  of  an  influential  branch  of  the  Teu- 
tonic folk.  It  is  probable  that  this  language  was  under- 
stood quite  generally  in  Switzerland,  much  of  which  was 
then  known  as  Alemania.1  When  Columban  was  ban- 
ished from  Burgundy  Gall  went  with  him  into  Alemania, 
and  was  very  active  in  labors  among  the  people.  The 
story  goes  that  after  the  missionaries  had  settled  at  Bre- 
genz  on  Lake  Constance  Gall  one  day  preached  a  power- 
ful sermon  to  the  people  in  their  own  tongue,  and  while 
they  were  still  moved  by  the  discourse  he  broke  in  pieces 
and  threw  into  the  lake  three  idols  that  had  long  been 
objects  of  worship.  It  was  a  bold  stroke  and  produced  a 
lasting  impression. 

When  persecution  forced  Columban  into  Italy  Gall 
was  prevented  by  illness  from  going  with  him.  The  elder 
man  regarded  the  illness  as  feigned,  or  at  least  exag- 
gerated, and  was  quite  angry  at  leaving  his  favorite  pupil 
and  helper  behind,  so  that  he  forbade  Gall  to  conduct  the 
services  of  the  mass  as  long  as  he  himself  should  live! 
However,  Gall  remained  behind  sick,  but  managed  to 
reach  in  a  boat  Arbon,  on  Lake  Constance,  where  he  had 
friends  who  received  him  and  nursed  him  back  to  health. 
On  getting  well  he  desired  to  resume  his  missionary  and 
monastic  life.  So  pushing  on  with  a  guide  into  the  wild 
country,  he  established  his  cell  at  the  place  which  to  this 
day  bears  his  name — St.  Gall.  Others  gathered  about 
him,  and  a  flourishing  monastery  was  founded.  From 
this  station  he  kept  up  his  mission  work  till  his  death  in 
640. 

In  the  year  615  Gall  was  invited  to  accept  a  bishopric 
at  Constance,  but  declined,  pleading  the  prohibition  of 

1  As  is  well  known  the  French  name  for  Germany  is  still 
Allemagne,  and  for  the  German  language  allemand. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,   AGE  151 

old  Columban,  his  master,  against  his  saying  mass!  But 
he  recommended  for  the  place  his  pupil,  John,  a  native 
of  the  country.  On  the  consecration  of  John  as  bishop 
Gall  preached  a  notable  sermon  in  Latin,  which  John 
interpreted  into  the  language  of  the  people.  It  seems 
clear  from  the  affair  at  Bregenz  that  Gall  could  preach 
very  effectively  in  the  tongue  of  the  people,  and  his 
long  sojourn  in  the  country  and  labors  among  the  natives 
make  it  incredible  that  he  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  vernacular  to  use  it  had  he  so  desired.  The  ex- 
planation of  the  singular  circumstance  is  perhaps  rather 
to  be  sought  in  the  considerations  that  as  it  was  a  formal 
occasion  and  Latin  was  the  ecclesiastical  language  it  was 
fitting  that  the  churchly  tongue  should  be  employed, 
while  to  accommodate  those  who  could  not  understand  it, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  demonstrate  his  fitness  for  his 
high  office,  John  turned  the  sermon  into  the  vernacular.1 
The  sermon  is  still  preserved,  its  genuineness  generally 
accepted  by  critics.2  It  is  a  decidedly  interesting  per- 
formance. Beginning  with  the  fall  of  the  angels  and  of 
man  the  preacher  sketches  the  Bible  history  from  Genesis 
to  Acts,  giving  emphasis  to  the  work  of  our  Lord  and 
making  spiritual  application  throughout.  The  special 
lesson  is  that  men  should  forsake  their  sins  and  heathen 
follies,  and  serve  the  true  God.  In  the  conclusion  he 
"  calls  upon  Christians  now  to  live  in  accordance  with 
their  baptismal  vow,  to  avoid  sin,  to  do  good,  and  to  care 
for  their  own  souls  in  view  of  the  future  judgment."  3 

Winfrid  (680-755),  whom  we  know  best  by  his  Latin 
name  of  Boniface,  was  born  in  Devonshire,  England,  of 
well-to-do  parents.  He  was  educated  at  Exeter  and  at 
an  abbey  called  Nhutscelle,  which  by  some  has  been  iden- 
tified with  Netley.4  It  is  thought  that  he  adopted  his 
new  name  of  Boniface  on  becoming  a  monk.  He  showed 
both  diligence  in  study  and  aptitude  for  affairs.  A  long- 
ing for  missionary  life  on  the  Continent  seized  him.  So, 

1  See  Albert,  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  Bd.  I.,  SS.  52,  53.    But  he  seems 
to  me  to  infer  more  than  is  just  against  the  use  of  the  vernacular 
in  Gall's  ordinary  preaching  and  in  that  of  others. 

2  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  87,  col.  13  ss. 
8  Albert,  op.  cit.,  Bd.  I.,  S.  57. 

*  F.  F.  Walrond,  Christian  Missions  before  the  Reformation,  p. 
81. 


1 52  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

with  the  reluctant  consent  of  his  abbot,  he  went  to  Fries- 
land  to  help  his  countryman  Willibrord,  who  was  labor- 
ing there  as  missionary  bishop  of  Trajectum,  now  known 
as  Utrecht.  Winfrid  found  on  arrival  that  the  Frisians 
were  engaged  in  a  fierce  war  with  Charles  Martel,  the 
famous  Frankish  mayor  of  the  palace  and  "  Hammer  of 
the  Saracens."  As  there  was  little  prospect  for  mission- 
ary work  for  some  time  to  come  the  enterprising  young 
monk  returned  home.  The  abbot  of  Nhutscelle  had  just 
died,  and  Winfrid  was  urged  to  accept  the  vacant  post, 
but  declined,  and  sought  to  carry  on  his  missionary  work 
in  another  way.  He  went  to  Rome  and  obtained  a  com- 
mission from  the  Pope  as  general  missionary  among  the 
Germans.  Now  his  real  life  work  begins,  in  719. 

After  working  for  a  while  in  southern  Germany  (prin- 
cipally Thuringia)  Boniface  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  could  do  better  if  he  had  the  protection  of  the  secular 
powers.  Having  previously  secured  a  letter  from  the 
Pope  to  Charles  Martel — the  real  ruler  of  the  Franks  in 
the  name  of  the  feeble  Merovingian  king — he  proceeded 
to  court  to  seek  the  protection  of  the  powerful  Frank. 
Charles  readily  granted  his  request,  much  to  Boniface's 
joy.  While  at  the  Frankish  court  he  had  heard  of  the 
death  of  old  Radbod,  king  of  the  Frisians,  and  armed 
with  Charles'  letter  of  protection  he  again  went  to  the 
aid  of  his  old  friend  Willibrord  among  the  Frisians.  He 
remained  about  three  years  in  that  country  and  then  re- 
turned to  resume  his  labors  among  the  Germans  in  Thu- 
ringia and  Hesse.  After  a  fruitful  year's  work  he  made 
another  visit  to  Rome,  and  was  created  bishop  of  Ger- 
many without  fixed  headquarters.  Once  more  he  sought 
and  obtained  the  protection  of  Charles  Martel,  and  from 
now  on  labored  for  some  years  among  the  Thuringians 
and  Hessians,  calling  helpers  from  England,  founding 
monasteries,  preaching  and  working  for  the  half-heathen 
people.  It  was  during  this  time  that  he  cut  down  with 
his  own  hands  at  Geismar  a  huge  oak  that  had  long  been 
regarded  with  awe  as  sacred  to  Thor  (or  Woden,  as 
some  have  it),  one  of  the  heathen  divinities.  In  732 — 
the  very  year  in  which  his  mighty  Frankish  protector  im- 
mortalized himself  by  defeating  the  Saracens  on  the 
plains  of  Tours — Boniface  was  made  archbishop  and  pri- 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       153 

mate  of  all  Germany.  His  hands  were  now  full  with 
establishing  churches  and  bishoprics,  selecting  men  for 
offices,  and  generally  settling  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  his 
vast  territory.  In  745  he  was  assigned  to  the  archbish- 
opric of  Mainz,  that  his  labors  and  responsibilities  might 
be  somewhat  lessened  in  his  old  age.  But  after  a  time 
the  old  man  turned  over  his  affairs  to  another,  and  with 
the  old  dreams  of  his  youth  he  turned  once  more  to  the 
heathen  Frisians.  In  that  wild  country  he  received  at 
the  hands  of  a  horde  of  the  heathen  his  martyr's  crown, 
being  slain  by  a  party  of  fierce  men  to  whom  he  had  come 
with  the  gospel  of  peace.  Thus  Boniface  ended  his  labors 
in  the  year  755,  though  some  authorities  place  it  a  year 
earlier. 

Historians  are  not  unanimous  as  to  the  merits  of  Boni- 
face's work,  nor  as  to  the  superior  excellence  of  his  char- 
acter. The  Catholic  view  is  expressed  in  his  well-known 
title  of  "  Apostle  of  Germany."  Extreme  Protestants 
discredit  his  work,  and  in  some  degree  his  character. 
They  make  him  bigoted,  worldly,  bent  on  subduing  the 
Germans  to  the  papal  yoke,  preparing  the  way  for  Can- 
ossa  and  necessitating  the  Reformation.  As  is  usually 
the  case  in  such  matters,  the  truth  probably  lies  between 
extremes. 

There  remain  fifteen  short,  probably  genuine,  sermons 
from  Boniface.1  They  are  not  missionarv  discourses, 
but  are  addressed  to  nominal  Christians.  Thus  they 
seem,  as  has  been  well  remarked,2  to  belong  not  to  the 
first  half  of  his  life,  when  he  was  doing  pioneer  work, 
but  to  his  later  career  of  organization  and  discipline. 
It  is  hard  to  say  exactly  to  what  class  of  hearers  they 
were  given,  or  certainly  in  what  language  they  were 
spoken,  though  of  course  we  have  them  in  Latin.  They 
are  without  text,  but  often  relate  to  the  Scriptural  lesson 
for  the  day.  They  use  Scripture  freely,  but  of  course  in 
the  prevalent  allegorical  way.  They  borrow  much  from 
the  older  sources,  and  deal  with  baptismal  vows,  the 
Creed  and  Lord's  prayer,  the  churchly  virtues,  and  the 
like.  As  sermons  and  of  themselves  they  are  not  of 
much  value ;  but  they  deserve  study  as  specimens  of  their 

1  Found  in  Migne's  Latin  Patrology,  and  discussed  by  Cruel, 
Albert,  et.  al.  *  Cruel,  op.  cit.,  S.  23. 


154  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

kind,  and  as  the  remains  of  a  very  interesting  and  im- 
portant man.1 

Our  survey  of  the  conditions  and  character  of  Chris- 
tian preaching  and  of  the  lives  and  labors  of  a  few  of  the 
best  preachers  during  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries 
justifies  the  title  of  this  chapter.  Preaching  was  in- 
deed at  a  low  estate.  But  still  it  was  not  gone  from  the 
earth,  and,  though  depressed,  it  was  not  dead.  The 
sketch  we  have  made  does  not  exhaust  the  subject.  Be- 
sides those  mentioned,  there  were  many  other  brave  and 
faithful  men  who,  with  imperfect  equipment  and  in  trying 
times,  preached  the  gospel  as  they  understood  it  to  the 
people  of  their  own  days. 


CHAPTER  V 

VOICES  IN  THE  NIGHT;  OR,  PREACHING  DURING  THE 
NINTH,  TENTH  AND  ELEVENTH  CENTURIES 

i.     SKETCH  OF  THE  AGE 

The  epoch  included  in  this  chapter  runs  from  the  death 
of  Charlemagne  in  814  to  the  beginning  of  the  first  Cru- 
sade in  1095.  In  the  East  there  were  not  many  events  of 
general  historical  interest,  but  the  old  empire  held  to- 
gether still.  The  accession  of  the  empress  Irene  in  780 
had  been  a  turning  point  in  the  image  controversy,  and 
the  second  Nicene  Council  in  787  had  declared  in  favor 
of  the  images.  But  after  Irene  some  of  the  emperors 
had  been  iconoclasts,  and  it  remained  for  another  em- 
press, Theodora,  in  842,  finally  to  settle  the  long  strife 
in  favor  of  the  icons.  The  monks  and  the  women  gained 
the  day  at  last.  From  867  to  1057  a  ^ne  °f  Macedonian 
emperors,  including,  besides  others,  Phocas,  Zimisces, 
and  Basil  II.,  governed  with  some  real  ability  and  suc- 

1  In  Serm.  I.,  De  Fide  Recta,  speaking  of  pastors  he  says : 
"  Quomodo  docet  quis  quod  non  didicit?  vel  qualiter  pastor  esse 
poterit  si  pane  vitae  gregem  sibi  commissum  pascere  ignorat? 
Non  erubescat  nesciens  discere  quod  ignorat,  nee  sciens  tardus  sit 
docere  quod  novit."  That  last  sentence  has  a  suspiciously  Augus- 
tinian  ring,  but  let  us  hope  it  is  original !  At  any  rate  the  passage 
well  expresses  a  very  important  principle. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE       155 

cess.  Then  the  family  of  the  Comneni — Isaac  and 
Alexis — reigned  with  a  show  of  splendor,  but  in  real 
weakness,  toward  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century.  The 
revival  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  West  under  Charle- 
magne was  a  final  stroke  to  the  pretensions  of  Constanti- 
nople in  that  direction — though  any  real  sovereignty  had 
long  ago  passed  away.  On  the  northeast  there  were 
struggles  with  the  rising  power  of  Bulgarians  and  Rus- 
sians ;  and  on  the  southeast  the  decay  of  the  caliphs  was 
offset  by  the  rise  of  the  Turks,  and  so  the  storm  that  was 
to  bring  destruction  was  already  brewing. 

In  the  West  events  pregnant  with  influence  on  subse- 
quent history  occur.  The  death  of  Charlemagne  in  814, 
the  division  of  his  empire  among  his  descendants,  and 
the  great  settlement  of  the  treaty  of  Verdun  in  843, 
really  founded  France  and  Germany  as  separate  mon- 
archies and  left  Burgundy  as  an  age-long  apple  of  dis- 
cord between  them.  Another  step  of  great  importance 
was  the  renewal  of  the  empire  under  strictly  German 
leadership  in  962  by  the  able  Otto  I.  This  period  also 
witnesses  the  incursions  of  the  Northmen  in  different 
parts  of  Europe,  especially  important  being  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Normans  in  France  and  of  the  Danes  in 
England.  The  struggles  of  Alfred,  the  Danish  suprem- 
acy, and  at  last,  in  1066,  the  Norman  conquest  give  to 
English  history  a  memorable  interest.  The  general  ex- 
pectation in  Europe  that  the  world  would  come  to  an 
end  with  the  year  1000  produced  both  unrest  and  lethargy 
in  the  tenth  century.  But  the  relief  from  that  foreboding 
and  the  agitation  preceding  the  Crusades  awakened  the 
eleventh  century,  and  a  new  era  was  about  to  dawn. 

In  ecclesiastical  affairs  the  final  schism  between  the 
Roman  and  Greek  churches  is  accomplished  within  this 
period.  The  three  decisive  steps  may  be  mentioned  with- 
out discussion :  ( I )  The  establishment  of  the  Western 
Empire  by  the  Pope  and  Charlemagne  gave  to  the  pa- 
pacy prestige  and  power ;  ( 2 )  The  quarrel  between 
Nicholas  of  Rome  and  Photius,  the  ambitious  patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  resulted  in  their  excommunicating 
each  other  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  j1 
(3)  The  final  dispute  between  Leo  IX.  of  Rome  and 
1  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.,  IV.,  p.  275. 


156  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Michael  Cerularius  of  Constantinople  involved  the  dif- 
fering points  of  doctrine  and  ritual,  and  also  claims  to 
jurisdiction  over  recent  converts  in  eastern  Europe,  and 
resulted  in  the  mutual  excommunication  of  the  churches 
in  1054.*  This  schism,  however,  was  an  affair  of  ages; 
the  events  mentioned  only  sharply  emphasized  what  was 
already  a  fact.  The  conversion  of  Russia  to  the  Greek 
church  in  the  tenth  century  was  an  event  of  world-wide 
importance.2.  Count  Vladimir,  after  some  hesitation,  ac- 
cepted the  Greek  faith,  married  a  Byzantine  princess, 
and  was  baptized  along  with  many  of  his  people  in  988. 
The  story  of  the  papacy  during  this  epoch  is  full  of 
shame  and  glory.  Early  in  the  tenth  century  began  the 
so-called  pornocracy,  the  reign  of  the  harlots,  when  the 
see  of  Rome  fell  under  the  blighting  influence  of  corrupt 
and  ambitious  women.  Much  confusion  and  turmoil 
went  on  all  through  the  century  till  the  election  of  Ger- 
bert  as  Sylvester  II.  in  999  brought  some  little  relief; 
but  still  riot  and  confusion  disturbed  the  church,  and  at 
one  time  as  many  as  three  popes  at  once  claimed  the 
throne.  Finally  the  emperor  deposed  them  all,  and  in 
1046  Clement  II.  inaugurates  a  better  day.  In  1049  tne 
monk  Hildebrand  becomes  chief  adviser  to  Leo  IX.,  and 
from  then  on  till  his  own  elevation  as  Gregory  VII.  in 
1073,  and  his  death  in  1085,  he  brought  the  papacy  to 
the  height  of  its  power  and  glory.  It  was  a  wonderful 
thing  how  the  institution  was  brought  up  from  its  abyss 
of  shame  and  made  so  great  a  power. 

To  trace  the  history  of  preaching  through  these  dark 
ages  is  the  task  before  us,  and  as  the  conditions  East  and 
West  were  so  different  it  will  be  necessary,  as  before,  to 
treat  separately  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches. 

2.    THE  EASTERN  CHURCH 

Only  a  few  general  remarks  are  needed  to  put  before 
us  a  view  of  the  Greek  preaching  of  the  age,  for  there 
was  no  marked  change  from  that  of  the  preceding  time — • 
none  for  the  better  certainly,  and  it  hardly  could  be  for  the 
worse. 

1  Schaff,  op.  cit.,  p.  318. 

2  Stanley  gives  an  interesting  account  of  it  in  his  Lectures  on 
the  Eastern  Church,  p.  284  ff  (Scribners'  pop.  ed.) 


THE  EARLY   MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,   AGE  157 

In  form  the  sermon  is  still  rather  the  stately  and  pre- 
tentious oration.  It  treats  of  great  occasions,  and  easily 
retains  the  exaggeration  and  bombast  of  previous  ages 
of  decline.  It  commonly  has  no  text,  but  the  usual 
themes  for  laudation.  There  are  a  few  homilies  of  less 
pretentious  character,  but  of  no  special  merit. 

In  contents  there  is  much  sameness.  Praises  of  Mary 
and  the  saints  on  their  festivals  are  the  chief  material. 
Little  or  no  doctrine,  and  only  a  little  good  moral  ex- 
hortation occur.  There  is  a  dearth  of  strong  thinking, 
of  grappling  with  great  themes.  Grasp  of  fundamental 
Christian  truth  is  traditional  and  feeble,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  truth  to  life  is  scant  and  weak.  The  disciplinary 
virtues  find  place,  but  large  and  live  handling  of  moral 
issues  is  not  prominent.  The  use  of  Scripture  strikes 
one  as  more  sparing  than  in  former  days,  and  of  course 
the  forced  and  allegorical  interpretation  is  still  dominant. 

There  is  much  dependence  on  the  past,  as  the  following 
quotation  from  Lentz x  will  show :  "  The  free  address 
came  more  and  more  into  decay ;  men  stuck  to  what  was 
already  at  hand  and  chose  especially  the  homilies  of  Basil 
the  Great  and  St.  Chrysostom  for  readings — a  custom 
which  lasted  long.  This  was  due  to  watchfulness  for 
purity  of  doctrine  which  the  church  was  careful  to  guard. 
Accordingly,  as  early  as  the  Trullan  Council,  in  the  year 
692,  order  was  made  that  the  bishops  should  daily,  and 
especially  on  Sundays,  teach  religion  to  the  clergy  and 
laity  through  collections  of  sound  doctrines  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  that  they  should  not  pass  the  fast-set 
bounds  and  doctrinal  prescriptions  of  the  godly  fathers. 
When  any  controversy  arose  as  to  the  Scripture  they 
must  explain  according  to  the  '  lights  and  teachers  '  of 
the  church,  and  thus  they  would  win  more  applause  than 
if  they  gave  their  own  views." 

There  was  continuous  decline  in  the  frequency  of 
preaching.2  The  two  chief  causes  were  the  ever  increas- 
ing regard  for  the  mass  as  being  the  essential  thing  in 
worship,  and  the  growing  ignorance  of  the  clergy.  More 
and  more  these  deteriorated,  and  many  were  utterly  in- 
capable of  preaching  an  original  discourse.  Such  was 
the  fallen  condition  of  preaching  among  the  people  who 

1  Christl.  Horn.,  I.,  S.  132.  *  Rothe,  S.  202. 


158  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

in  this  degenerate  age  still  spoke  the  language  and  pro- 
fessed to  revere  the  examples  of  Basil  and  Chrysostom ! 

A  few  of  the  best  among  the  preachers  from  whom  ser- 
mons have  come  down  to  us  may  be  mentioned  as  samples. 
Of  these  the  first  is  a  certain  Gregory  (d.  c.  817),  who 
was  born  in  the  Isaurian  Decapolis  probably  about  731, 
and  served  as  bishop  in  that  region.  There  remains 
under  his  name  a  curious  and  all  but  worthless  address  2 
known  as  "  a  historical  sermon  on  a  certain  Saracen  who 
had  a  vision,  was  converted,  and  afterwards  suffered 
martyrdom."  The  address  was  a  great  favorite,  and  was 
much  used  as  a  declamation  in  the  monasteries.  A  con- 
densation of  it  may  not  be  devoid  of  interest. 

It  tells  how  a  Saracen  officer  on  a  journey  with  his 
retinue  came  to  a  temple  consecrated  to  St.  George  and 
ordered  his  servants  to  drive  the  twelve  camels  into  the 
temple  and  feed  them.  The  horror-stricken  monks  pro- 
tested in  vain.  But  on  entering  the  sacred  precincts  the 
camels  all  fell  dead.  The  terrified  Saracen  had  the  car- 
casses speedily  dragged  away  and  then  remained  himself 
to  witness  the  worship.  When  the  mass  was  celebrated 
the  man  saw  with  astonishment  and  loathing  that  the  offi- 
ciating priest  took  a  fair  child  and  cut  him  into  four 
parts,  putting  each  part  into  a  plate  and  pouring  the  blood 
into  a  cup.  The  assembled  Christians  all  partook  of  this 
gruesome  feast  without  apparent  horror,  but  as  though 
accustomed  to  it.  At  the  conclusion,  when  the  priest  and 
others  had  eaten  the  consecrated  bread  that  was  left  over 
from  the  distribution,  the  celebrant  took  off  his  robes 
and,  coming  to  the  Saracen,  hospitably  offered  him  some 
beautiful  bread.  This,  the  man  learned,  was  the  bread 
from  which  the  consecrated  loaf  had  been  selected, 
whereupon  he  broke  out  into  fierce  words,  calling  the 
priest  a  murderer,  a  monster,  and  the  like.  The  pious 
man  was  greatly  shocked,  but  when  the  Saracen  explained 
why  he  used  the  opprobrious  names  the  priest's  surprise 
became  astonishment,  and  he  said :  "  You  surely  must  be 
some  great  one,  for  I  and  my  comrades  being  only  poor 
ordinary  sinners  see  nothing  in  these  elements  but  bread 
and  wine,  as  types  of  the  broken  body  and  shed  blood 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ..  Nor  have  the  holy  lights  and 

8  Migne,  Pat.  Gr.,  torn.  100,  col.  1201  ss. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE      159 

teachers  of  the  church,  even  such  as  the  saints  Basil  and 
Chrysostom  and  Gregory,  seen  anything  more  than  this." 
Whereupon  the  Saracen  was  converted  on  the  spot  and 
straightway  demanded  baptism,  but  the  cautipus  priest, 
after  telling  him  what  was  involved  in  the  Christian 
faith,  referred  him  to  the  archbishop,  who  dwelt  far  away 
at  Sinai.  The  Saracen  went  to  the  archbishop,  was  duly 
instructed  and  baptized,  and  began  the  life  of  a  monk. 
One  day  he  asked  the  archbishop  how  he  might  see  Jesus. 
The  old  prelate  could  not  tell  him,  and  the  Saracen  be- 
thought him  of  the  holy  priest  in  the  temple  of  St.  George, 
and  repaired  thither.  From  his  old  acquaintance  he 
learned  that  the  way  to  see  Jesus  was  to  go  back  to  his 
kindred,  publicly  renounce  Mahomet,  and  proclaim  Jesus 
as  his  Lord  and  Saviour.  The  Saracen  gladly  obeyed 
these  instructions,  was  promptly  put  to  death  for  his 
boldness,  and  thus  obtained  the  martyr's  crown  and  the 
beatific  vision. 

The  story  is  elaborated  with  considerable  prolixity,  and 
while  utterly  valueless  in  itself  and  as  a  sermon,  yet 
throws  a  curious  light  on  the  taste  and  customs  of  the 
age  with  regard  to  some  points  of  interest.  It  would  be 
pleasing  to  dwell  on  these  somewhat  if  space  permitted, 
but  the  statement  that  even  the  "  lights  and  teachers  of 
the  church  "  saw  only  the  bread  and  wine  as  types,  shows 
that  this  man  at  least  had  not  gone  very  far  in  developing 
the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence. 

There  was  a  Christopher  (d.  c.  836)  who  was  patriarch 
of  Alexandria  in  the  first  third  of  the  ninth  century.  Lit- 
tle is  related  of  his  life.  He  joined  with  two  other  pre- 
lates in  a  letter  to  the  reigning  iconoclastic  emperor  in 
favor  of  image  worship.  He  was  long  a  sufferer  from 
paralysis,  and  the  active  duties  of  his  office  were  de- 
volved upon  an  assistant.  His  interest  for  us  lies  in  the 
fact  that  there  remains  from  him  a  homily  x  which,  in 
spite  of  its  defects,  is  really  worth  preserving,  and  would 
be  worth  translating  here  entire,  excepting  its  stilted  in- 
troduction and  needless,  not  to  say  foolish,  digressions. 
But  for  these  faults  its  literary  excellence  is  considerable, 
the  language  being  simple,  and  the  interest  sustained  to 
the  climax,  while  the  moral  lesson  it  conveys  is  of  peren- 
*Pat.  Gr.,  torn,  100,  col.  121553. 


160  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

nial  importance.    Space  forbids  more  than  a  brief  pre- 
sentation of  its  course  of  thought. 

The  homily  is  without  text,  but  has  this  title :  "  A  Soul- 
Profiting  Exhortation  Showing  to  What  This  Life  Is 
Like,  and  unto  What  End  It  Comes."  It  is  a  sort  of  para- 
ble, with  applicatory  interruptions  and  other  digressions, 
and  runs  thus:  A  man  once  took  up  his  abode  in  a  fine 
house,  bringing  his  wife,  his  only  son,  his  servant,  and  his 
other  belongings.  He  was  warned  that  in  the  house 
(this  life)  there  dwelt  a  deadly  snake  (the  demon  of 
avarice),  and  he  was  urged  at  once  to  hunt  out  the  reptile 
and  kill  it,  which  he  was  fully  resolved  to  do.  But  when 
he  came  to  kill  the  snake  he  found  that  it  had  left  for  him 
a  piece  of  gold  of  the  finest  mintage.  The  man  reasoned, 
"  Surely  this  snake  does  not  wish  us  any  harm,  or  he 
would  not  have  left  us  this  piece  of  gold."  So  he  let  the 
snake  alone,  and  day  after  day  it  brought  the  gold  piece. 
After  a  while  it  bit  the  man's  horse,  and  the  animal  died. 
The  neighbors  urged  the  man  to  kill  the  snake  before  he 
should  do  worse  damage.  He  was  about  to  do  so,  when 
the  fatal  coin  again  caught  his  eye  and  caused  him  to 
reason  that  with  the  fast  accumulating  gold  he  could  buy 
another  horse  and  still  have  much  money  left.  So  it  went 
on  as  before,  until  the  servant  was  bitten  and  died ;  then 
the  son;  then  the  wife;  the  man  vowing  vengeance, 
cursing  the  house,  bewailing  his  lot  that  he  ever  came 
into  it,  in  each  case ;  but  every  time  the  bright,  pure  gold 
piece  salved  the  sore,  and  plausible  reasonings  let  the 
snake  live  on.  By  and  by  the  man  becomes  a  miser  and 
gloats  over  his  wealth,  but  suddenly  one  day  the  snake 
bites  him  and  he  falls  very  ill.  No  physician  can  cure 
him,  but  he  prays  to  God  and  vows  he  will  mend  his  life 
and  kill  that  snake  if  only  he  be  spared.  His  prayers 
are  heard  and  he  recovers,  but  when  he  goes  to  kill  the 
snake  he  finds  instead  of  the  usual  coin  a  magnificent 
pearl.  Fatal  sight!  the  fool  hesitates,  declares  he  will 
take  better  care  and  not  let  the  snake  bite  him  again. 
Once  more,  after  many"  pearls  are  his,  he  is  bitten ;  once 
more  prays  and  vows;  once  more  is  spared;  till  at  last 
God's  patience  is  exhausted,  the  third  bite  of  the  snake 
is  allowed  to  have  its  effect,  and  the  wretch  dies  pleading 
in  vain,  condemned  by  the  wise,  justly  getting  the  due 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,    OR   DARK,    AGE  l6l 

meed  of  his  folly  and  sin.  The  homily  concludes  with 
suitable  application  of  the  lesson  and  with  earnest  exhor- 
tation to  repentance.  It  is  in  refreshing  contrast  to  the 
stock  sermons  of  the  age. 

A  certain  George  (d.  880),  who  was  for  a  while  keeper 
of  archives  in  the  great  church  at  Constantinople,  and 
later  was  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  and  a  friend  of  the  patri- 
arch Photius,  has  bequeathed  to  us  nine  or  ten  worthless 
discourses  in  the  bombastic  style  of  the  age.  Some  of  the 
titles  are  here  quoted  from  Rothe  as  illustrating  the  kind 
of  thing  which  generally  prevailed  in  his  time:  The 
Prophecy  concerning  the  Conception  of  the  Mother  of 
God;  Encomium  on  the  Conception  of  St.  Anna,  the 
Mother  of  the  Most  Holy  Mother  of  God;  Oration  on 
the  Conception  and  Nativity  of  our  Most  Holy  Lady, 
Mother  of  God  and  Perpetual  Virgin,  Mary.  There  are 
several  more  sermons  on  Mary  and  one  on  the  saints 
Cosmas  and  Damian.  They  are  full  of  exaggeration  and 
padding  of  all  sorts,  and  are  destitute  of  any  merit.  Yet 
no  doubt  they  were  highly  esteemed  in  their  time. 

The  learned  Photius  (d.  886),  patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople near  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  and  later,  is 
chiefly  celebrated  for  his  quarrel  with  Nicholas  of  Rome,1 
which  was  one  of  the  steps  in  the  great  schism.  But  he 
was  also  an  author  of  repute  in  several  fields,2  and  some 
of  his  works  are  of  considerable  value.  He  enjoyed  a 
good  reputation  as  a  preacher.  Of  his  sermons  there  are 
published  in  Migne's  Greek  Patrology  3  two  entire  ones 
in  Greek  and  two  Latin  fragments  or  abridgements.  Oth- 
ers besides  these  are  mentioned  by  scholars  as  existing  in 
manuscript,  but  they  seem  never  to  have  been  printed — 
probably  to  nobody's  loss !  Of  the  two  complete  sermons 
one  is  on  the  birthday  of  Mary,  in  which  the  preacher 
remarks :  "  To-day  is  the  Virgin  Mother  born  of  a  barren 
mother,  and  thus  the  home  for  the  Lord's  sojourning  is 
made  ready."  This  was  accepted  tradition  as  to  the 
mother  of  Mary,  whose  birth  also  had  to  be  extraordinary. 
The  other  sermon  is  likewise  devoted  to  the  Virgin,  hav- 
ing been  preached  at  the  dedication  of  a  church  built  in 
her  honor.  They  are  of  the  customary  sort,  loose  in  con- 

aSchaff,  Ch.  Hist.,  IV.,  p.  312  ff. 
'Id.,  p.  636  ff.  'Tom.  102. 


1 62  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

tents  and  treatment,  full  of  digressions  and  padded  with 
fables  and  the  like. 

All  three  of  the  preceding  preachers  belonged  to  the 
ninth  century.  Rothe  declares  that  in  the  tenth  century 
no  Greek  preacher  is  worth  naming,  and  we  may  as  well 
accept  his  judgment  and  pass  on  to  the  eleventh  century, 
which  may  be  dismissed  with  brief  mention  of  two  only. 

Theophanes  Cerameus  (d.  1052)  was  archbishop  of 
Taorminia  in  Sicily,  and  died  about  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century.  From  him  have  come  down  sixty-two 
homilies,  which  are  said  to  be  rather  above  the  common 
run  of  mediaeval  Greek  sermons.  In  fact  Rothe  *  praises 
them  as  being  simple  in  style  and  free  from  tawdry 
declamation,  interpreting  and  applying  the  text  with  some 
skill. 

The  noted  commentator  Theophylact  (d.  c.  1107),  who 
was  quite  a  scholar  and  a  teacher  of  one  of  the  young 
emperors,  has  left  us  several  sermons  or  addresses,  but 
they  follow  the  fashion  of  the  age  and  in  themselves  are 
said  to  be  unworthy  of  mention.  The  sun  of  Greek  pulpit 
eloquence  has  long  set. 

3.    THE  WESTERN  CHURCH 

In  the  countries  which  owed  ecclesiastical  allegiance  to 
Rome  the  history  of  preaching  up  to  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century  went  on  upon  the  lines  developed  in 
the  epoch  last  studied.  Notwithstanding  the  earnest 
efforts  of  Charlemagne  and  his  successors  to  improve 
preaching  by  legal  enactments,  there  was  no  great  im- 
provement. These  efforts  themselves  reveal  a  bad  state 
of  affairs,  for  laws  on  morals  are  usually  in  advance  of 
attainment.  That  the  laws  continued  to  be  made  shows 
that  the  evils  were  not  remedied,  but  still  that  interest  in 
the  reform  persevered.  No  doubt  all  this  gave  impulse 
toward  a  better  state  of  things,  but  from  the  nature  of  the 
case  the  evils  could  hardly  be  mended  by  law.  There  was 
needed  a  new  spiritual  impulse,  a  reform  from  within, 
and  this  did  not  come.  Then  the  decay  and  division  of 
the  empire  contributed  to  the  failure  of  these  well-meant 
reforms,  and  preaching  continued  to  be  much  neglected 

1Gesch.  der  Pred.  S.  204;  and  this  judgment  is  endorsed  or 
adopted  by  Christlieb  in  Herzog,  supplement  to  Bd.  18. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,    OR   DARK,    AGE  l6j 

and  of  poor  quality.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  we 
must  remember  that  the  neglect  was  not  total,  any  more 
than  in  former  times.  Parochial,  cloistral  and  missionary 
preaching  still  went  on,  and  remaining  sermons  as  well 
as  narratives  of  events  still  teach  us  something  of  the 
character  of  the  work  done. 

The  missionary  work  of  this  age  was  considerable.  In 
the  East,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Russia  was  attached 
to  the  Greek  church;  and  before  that,  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, Cyrill  and  Methodius,  two  brothers,  had  done  an 
excellent  work  among  the  Slavs  in  Moravia.  Though 
Greeks  themselves,  their  converts  became  connected  with 
the  Roman  church,  but  in  a  somewhat  independent  way. 
The  missionaries  had  learned  the  native  language, 
preached  in  it,  translated  some  of  the  Scriptures  into  it, 
and  secured  permission  for  it  instead  of  Latin  to  be  used 
in  worship.  But  through  political  and  ecclesiastical  rival- 
ries and  divisions  this  good  work  did  not  endure,  though 
some  fruit  came  of  it.  In  the  West  proper  much  activity 
went  on  among  the  half-Christian  population  in  the  lands 
that  had  already  been  brought  nominally  into  the  fold, 
and,  in  addition,  Norway  and  Sweden,  Denmark,  the 
Baltic  provinces,  Poland,  Bohemia,  Hungary,  all  in  some 
measure  received  the  Romish  form  of  Christianity  during 
this  period.  It  was  the  "  dark  ages,"  but  the  gospel  light 
though  burning  low  was  not  quenched. 

Coming  to  consider  more  particularly  the  preaching 
itself  in  these  dark  centuries  we  shall  find  it  convenient 
to  discuss  in  order  the  clergy,  the  people,  the  language 
used,  and  the  character  and  contents  of  the  sermons  dur- 
ing that  age. 

The  Roman  hierarchy  was  considerably  developed.  In 
1059  the  Roman  cardinals — a  designation  which  origi- 
nally included  "  all  the  clergy  attached  to  one  particular 
church  " 1 — were  created  a  college  of  electors  to  choose 
the  pope,  and  the  term  "  cardinal "  is  henceforth  re- 
stricted to  these,  though  after  the  thirteenth  century  the 
Roman  cardinals  were  appointed  from  other  countries  as 
well  as  from  Italy.  Archbishops,  bishops,  priests,  dea- 
cons, constituted  the  stated  orders  of  clergy,  but  there 
were  numerous  other  officers  and  titles.  Monasticism 

1  Kurtz'  Church  History  (Am.  ed.),  Vol.  II.,  p.  59. 


164  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

had  powerfully  influenced  the  clergy.  Some  of  the  abbots 
had  episcopal  rank  and  authority  and  were  called  "  mitred 
abbots."  Many  monks  were  ordained  deacons  and  priests 
and  were  called  "  regulars,"  because  they  lived  by  monas- 
tic rule  (regida),  while  the  ordinary  parochical  clergy 
were  called  "  seculars,"  as  living  out  in  the  world  (scecu- 
lum).  Other  monks  were  novices,  pupils,  lay  workers. 
There  was  much  of  rivalry  and  bad  blood  between  the 
"  regulars,"  who  claimed  superiority  in  character  and 
learning,  and  the  "  seculars,"  many  of  whom  no  doubt 
were  shamefully  ignorant  and  loose. 

Of  course  there  were  learned  and  good  men  among  the 
clergy  of  all  orders,  but  the  average  character  was  discred- 
itably low.  The  superior  clergy  had  a  good  degree  of  eccle- 
siastical, social,  and  even  political  influence,  and  many  of 
them  fell  victims  to  the  vices  of  avarice  and  luxury.  In 
fact  the  whole  class  was  more  or  less  infected  with  vice ; 
simony,  gluttony,  avarice,  sensuality,  flourished  among 
them.  While  the  monks  may  have  been  in  most  cases 
better  than  the  "  seculars  "  there  is  painfully  abundant 
evidence  that  they,  too,  were  often  corrupt  and  vile.  Be- 
sides moral  degradation  there  was  among  the  clergy 
much  gross  and  inexcusable  ignorance  and  superstition. 

The  nobles,  the  clergy,  the  common  people,  were  then 
as  long  afterwards  the  three  classes  of  society.  The 
middle  class,  strictly  speaking,  had  not  yet  arisen.  The 
clergy,  still  as  in  former  times,  being  recruited  from  both 
the  other  classes,  for  social  as  well  as  official  reasons  made 
a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  the  upper  and  lower 
orders  of  people.  Among  all  classes  there  was  much 
superstition,  immorality,  ignorance,  violence;  and  yet  the 
finer  virtues  of  humanity  and  the  noble  ideals  of  the 
Christian  faith  were  held  in  honor,  and  there  was  much 
piety  of  a  sort.  As  to  the  arts  and  comforts  of  life  not 
much  can  be  said ;  there  were  feasting  and  luxury  in  the 
upper  walks  of  society,  but  the  exactions  of  the  clergy 
and  the  rapacity  of  the  nobles  left  little  more  than  bare 
living  to  the  common  man.  Under  such  conditions  there 
was  evident  and  sore  need  of  preaching,  but  it  had  much 
to  do  if  it  would  attain  and  keep  a  tolerably  decent  average 
of  excellence,  and  even  this,  alas !  it  failed  to  achieve. 

Scholars  are  somewhat  divided  in  opinion  as  to  whether 


THE   EARLY    MEDIEVAL,   OR   DARK,    AGE  165 

before  the  twelfth  century  there  was,  properly  speaking, 
any  preaching  in  the  vernacular  languages  of  continental 
Europe.1  It  is  generally  agreed  that  although  there 
are  evidences  of  Anglo-Saxon  preaching  long  before  this 
time,  the  rule  certainly  in  cloistral  and  prevailingly  in 
parochial  preaching,  was  to  use  the  Latin  as  the  churchly 
and  universal  tongue ;  that  no  sermons  earlier  than  the 
twelfth  century  (except  in  Anglo-Saxon)  are  preserved 
to  us  in  any  other  language  than  Latin ;  and  that  the  use 
of  Latin  in  worship  and  preaching  was  persistently  preva- 
lent into  even  later  times. 

But  in  favor  of  there  having  been  at  least  some  preach- 
ing in  the  vernacular  the  following  considerations  are 
urged  :  ( I )  That  the  fact  of  preservation  in  Latin  does 
not  prove  that  many  of  the  sermons  were  not  delivered 
in  the  language  of  the  people,  for  Latin  was  the  language 
of  literature,  and  especially  theology,  and  all  writings 
would  naturally  be  in  that  tongue.  (2)  Missionary 
preaching  must  have  been  largely  if  not  altogether  in  the 
vernacular,  either  directly  or  by  an  interpreter ;  and  there 
are  positive  statements  and  other  indications  which  estab- 
lish this  view.2  (3)  There  are  laws  and  regulations  from 
Charlemagne's  time  and  onward  which  plainly  prescribe 
that  at  least  some  preaching  must  be  given  to  the  people 
in  their  own  tongue.  The  clearest  case  is  that  of  a  canon 
passed  by  the  Synod  of  Tours  in  813  which  distinctly 
says:  "And  that  each  [preacher]  shall  strive  to  trans- 
late the  same  homilies  [written  in  Latin]  plainly  into 

1  The  point,  as  regards  Germany,  is  ably  discussed  by  Rothe, 
Cruel,  Albert,  in  the  works  so  often  cited,  and  by  scholars  to 
whom   they   refer.     For   French   preaching   the   admirable  work 
of  M.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  La  Chaire  Francaise  au  Moyen  Age, 
considers  the  question  more  especially  in  reference  to  the  thir- 
teenth  century,   but   the   learned   author   shows   that  there   are 
indications  of  vernacular  preaching  in  French  before  that  time. 
He  notes,  however,  the  variant  opinions  of  French  scholars,  and 
confesses  the  difficulty  of  the  question. 

2  For  the  cases  of  Eligius  of  Noyon  and  of  Gall,  see  pp.  146, 
150,  151  and  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p.  237,  who  quotes  the  following 
epitaph  on  Notker,  d.  998: 

Vulgari  plebem,  clerum  sermone  Latino 
Erudit,  et  satiat  magni  dulcedine  verbi. 

Magni  is  probably  misprint  for  magna.  Here  we  see  the  con- 
trast distinctly  made  between  the  language  used  for  the  people 
and  that  for  the  clergy. 


l66  A    HISTORY    OF    PREACHING 

the  rustic  Romance  or  German  tongue,  in  order  that  all 
may  the  more  easily  understand  the  things  which  are 
said."  x 

On  the  other  hand  some  seek  to  break  the  force  of 
these  weighty  considerations  by  urging,  ( I )  that  the  non- 
existence  of  dialect  sermons  cannot  be  overcome;  (2)  that 
the  indications  from  "  preaching "  to  the  people  in  the 
vernacular  are  inconclusive  because  the  word  often  meant 
only  reciting  the  creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  like; 

(3)  that  the  seeming  exceptions  only  prove  the  rule;  and 

(4)  that  the  laws  and  canons  show  the  lack  of  vernacular 
preaching  and  vainly  sought  to  institute  it.  But  this  looks 
too  much  like  special  pleading  in  the  interest  of  a  theory. 
The  truth  probably  lies  between  extreme  positions  either 
way ;  and  there  was  probably  some  missionary  and  popu- 
lar preaching  in  the  vernacular,  though  as  a  rule,  always 
in  the  cloisters  and  generally  in  the  churches,  the  preach- 
ing was  in  Latin. 

As  to  the  character  and  contents  of  the  sermons  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  that  age  little  needs  to  be  said. 
The  preaching  was  much  as  in  former  times;  the  best 
part  of  it  was  borrowed  from  the  older  preachers,  and  it 
was  filled  with  legends,  with  discussions  of  the  churchly 
virtues,  and  the  like,  to  the  obscuration  of  the  simple 
gospel.  As  a  consequence  it  could  not  have  had  much 
influence  on  the  life  of  the  people.  Church  services  con- 
sisted largely  of  the  liturgy,  especially  that  connected  with 
the  celebration  of  the  mass,  and  very  little  of  direct  appeal 
to  conscience  and  thought.  After  the  deep  darkness  of 
the  tenth  century  there  were  some  tokens  of  a  better  time. 
The  rise  of  scholasticism  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh 
century  and  the  preaching  of  the  first  Crusade  toward  its 
close  were  both  tokens  and  causes  of  a  coming  revival 
which  was  to  show  itself  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  to 
reach  its  height  in  the  truly  wonderful  preaching  of  the 
thirteenth. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  classification  of  preachers  as 
missionary,  parochial  and  cloistral  still  holds.  The  age 
had  no  distinguished  preachers,  though  there  were  not 

1  Et  ut  easdem  homilias  quisque  aperte  transferre  studeat  in 
rusticam  Romanam  linguam  aut  Theotiscam,  quo  facilius  cuncti 
possint  intelligere  quae  dicuntur.  Quoted  by  Rothe  (S.  184) 
and  others. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,   AGE  167 

wanting  in  all  the  classes  earnest  workers,  capable 
prelates,  and  learned  divines.  Some  of  the  best  and  best 
known  will  be  selected  for  brief  sketches, 

The  most  distinguished  missionary  preacher  of  the  age 
was  Ansgar  (801-865),  who  was  born  of  Prankish 
parents  near  Amiens  and  educated  at  the  famous  mon- 
astery of  Corbie.  After  teaching  a  while  at  the  twin 
German  cloister  of  the  same  name  (usually  written 
Corvey)  he  acepted  a  call  to  go  to  Denmark  as  mission- 
ary. He  established  a  mission  in  Schleswig  in  827.  He 
was  especially  kind  to  the  poor  and  needy,  and  his  zeal 
as  teacher  and  preacher  was  marked.  But  the  king,  who 
had  patronized  the  good  missionary,  became  unpopular, 
and  was  forced  to  leave  the  country.  Upon  this  Ansgar 
also  found  it  best  to  retire;  but  a  way  was  opened  for 
him  to  enter  Sweden,  where  he  spent  two  years  in  teach- 
ing and  preaching.  In  831  a  bishopric  was  established  at 
Hamburg  for  all  the  northern  country,  and  Ansgar  was 
made  the  first  incumbent  of  the  see.  The  king  of  Den- 
mark captured  Hamburg,  plundered  the  city  and  burned 
the  church.  It  seemed  as  if  Ansgar's  work  was  all 
ruined ;  but  he  did  not  forsake  the  field,  and  better  times 
came.  Bremen  and  Hamburg  were  united,  and  he  was 
made  archbishop  of  the  enlarged  diocese.  From  Bremen 
as  a  basis  he  gradually  resumed  work  both  in  Denmark 
and  Sweden,  and  at  last  met  with  larger  success.  He 
worked  on,  a  saintly  and  faithful  man,  to  the  end  of  his 
life  in  865.  It  is  known  that  he  preached  much  and 
effectively  to  the  people,  but  no  sermons  of  his  have  come 
down  to  us,  and  particular  estimate  of  his  preaching  is 
therefore  impossible. 

Among  the  preaching  prelates  of  the  age  none  stands 
higher  than  the  renowned  teacher  and  leader  Rabanus, 
surnamed  Maurus  (c.  776-856).  He,  too,  was  of  good 
French  family,  was  born  at  Mainz  and  carefully  educated 
at  the  renowned  abbey  of  Fulda.  For  a  time  he  was  sent 
to  Tours  to  be  taught  by  the  famous  Alcuin,  but  returned 
to  Fulda  and  became  teacher  there.  He  was  ordained 
deacon  in  801,  priest  814,  elected  abbot  of  Fulda  822,  re- 
signed 842,  consecrated  archbishop  of  Mainz  847,  and  re- 
tained the  office  till  his  death  in  856.  He  was  eminent 
as  teacher,  scholar,  author;  was  a  diligent  bishop,  and 


1 68  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

withal  an  active  and  popular  preacher.    He  both  preached 
much  himself  and  encouraged  others  to  preach. 

While  at  Fulda  he  wrote  at  the  request  of  Aistulph, 
archbishop  of  Mainz,  a  collection  of  homilies.  They  were 
to  be  used  in  private  reading  and  also  by  the  priests  who 
should  read  or  reproduce  them  in  preaching.  Some  ex- 
tracts from  his  introduction  follow  :*  "  In  obedience  to 
your  commands  I  have  composed  a  book  of  sermons  to 
be  preached  to  the  people  on  all  subjects  which  I  con- 
sider necessary  for  them.  .  .  .  But  since  I  could  not, 
through  the  variety  of  my  occupations,  publish  all  these 
at  one  time,  but  as  opportunity  allowed  sent  them  sepa- 
rately to  you,  I  now  request  you  to  have  them  collected 
into  one  volume.  .  .  .  And  this  I  would  principally 
request  as  my  recompense,  that  whenever  you  give  this 
work  to  pious  persons  either  to  read  or  to  preach  you 
would  desire  them  to  assist  my  frailty  by  their  prayers  to 
the  most  righteous  Judge,  that  I  may  by  His  grace  for 
a  long  time  run  the  course  of  the  present  life,  and  may 
merit  to  attain  happily  to  future  blessedness."  The  ser- 
mons are  not  remarkable  either  in  thought  or  style.  They 
are  greatly  wanting  in  originality,  being  largely  borrowed 
from  the  fathers  and  earlier  preachers.  In  one  he  in- 
veighs against  the  still  surviving  superstitious  custom  of 
raising  a  great  noise  during  a  lunar  eclipse,  and  inserts  in 
the  midst  of  his  own  remarks  a  paragraph,  without  alter- 
ing a  word,  from  a  sermon  by  Maximus  of  Turin  2  on 
the  same  subject!  This  collection  contains  seventy  ser- 
mons, and  there  is  a  later  one  which  has  a  hundred  and 
sixty-three  discourses.  This  is  thought 3  to  have  been 
more  especially  designed  for  private  reading.  The  earlier 
one  is  the  more  important.  The  discourses  deal  with  the 
fasts  and  feasts,  but  also  in  a  striking  way  with  the  sins 
and  errors  of  the  times. 

A  fellow-student  of  Rabanus  both  at  Fulda  and  Tours 
was  Haymo  (c.  778-853),  who  also  taught  awhile  at 
Fulda.  Later  he  was  abbot  at  Hirschfeld,  and  from  841 
to  his  death  bishop  of  Halberstadt.  There  goes  under 
his  name  a  collection  of  a  hundred  and  fifty-four  homilies. 
Most  of  them  consist  of  extracts  and  compilations  from 

1  Quoted  from  Neale's  Medi&val  Preaching,  p.  30. 

2  See  ante,  p.  123.  '.  Cruel,  op.  cit.,  SS.  57,  58. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR  DARK,   AGE  169 

the  older  church  writers.  Albert  *  considers  them  rather 
as  pious  extracts  designed  for  private  reading  than  as 
actually  delivered  homilies.  There  is  no  originality.  The 
collection  is  a  compound  of  quotations,  ridiculous  allegor- 
izing of  Scripture,  exhortations  to  the  churchly  virtues, 
treatises  on  fasts,  saints'  days,  and  so  on.  They  are  of 
no  value  except  as  illustrating  the  taste  and  habit  of  the 
age  in  preaching. 

A  like  man,  of  later  date,  was  Fulbert  (d.  1029),  born 
probably  at  Chartres  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century. 
Bishop  Odo  took  him  up  when  a  boy  and  trained  him  for 
a  churchman.  He  was  put  to  school  at  Rheims,  where 
he  was  taught  by  the  celebrated  Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope 
Sylvester  II.  Recalled  to  Chartres  Fulbert  taught  various 
subjects — grammar,  music,  dialectic,  medicine — and  had 
among  his  pupils  the  subsequently  famous  Berengar  of 
Tours.  He  was  a  notable  teacher  and  was  sometimes 
called  the  "  Socrates  of  the  Franks."  In  his  writings  he 
defends  already  the  view  of  the  real  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  eucharist,  which  long  afterwards  received  the  name 
of  "transubstantiation,"  and  in  the  method  of  his  theologi- 
cal treatises  there  are  suggestions  of  the  coming  scholastic- 
ism. Fulbert  was  never  a  monk,  and  was  made  bishop 
of  Chartres  in  1007.  Here  he  had  no  bed  of  roses,  but 
was  involved  in  the  troubles  of  his  times.  He  was  a  dili- 
gent bishop,  and  enjoyed  a  good  repute  as  a  preacher; 
but,  in  the  judgment  of  critics,  the  sermons  that  we  have 
from  him  do  not  sustain  his  reputation.  They  are,  as 
usual,  largely  compilations  filled  with  allegorizing  and 
excessive  veneration  of  the  Virgin  in  the  style  of  the 
Greek  preachers.  For  example,  he  emphasizes  the  widely 
spread  view  that  Christ  is  to  be  regarded  rather  as  Judge, 
and  therefore  the  intercession  of  his  human  mother  is 
needed  by  penitents. 

The  name  ^Elfric  belongs  to  several  Anglo-Saxon 
churchmen  of  this  period,  but  especially  three  are  worthy 
of  note:  (i)  an  archbishop  of  Canterbury  (996-1006); 
(2)  an  archbishop  of  York  (1023-1051)  ;  (3)  a  certain 
learned  Benedictine  monk  of  contemporary  date  known 
as  the  "  Grammarian."  Whether  the  last  is  a  third  man 
or  is  to  be  identified  with  one  of  the  archbishops  is  a 

10p.  cit.,  II.,  S.  116. 


170  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

question.1  Probabilities  seem  rather  to  favor  his  identifi- 
cation with  the  archbishop  of  York.  He  was  a  very 
learned  teacher  and  greatly  beloved  man.  In  addition  to 
his  own  work  as  preacher  he  translated  many  Latin  homi- 
lies into  Anglo-Saxon,  and  thus  was  not  only  a  leader 
and  founder  of  English  preaching,  but  was  also  one  of 
the  fathers  of  English  prose.  As  homilies  these  dis- 
courses hardly  rise  above  the  level  of  their  age,  but,  as 
Schoell  remarks,  they  are  "  a  pure  model  of  the  beautiful 
Saxon  mother  tongue,  and  on  that  account  alone  are  of 
the  highest  significance." 

We  may  fitly  close  these  sketches  by  the  mention  of 
two  distinguished  monks  and  prelates  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury who  have  left  us  cloistral  sermons. 

Peter,  called  Damiani  (1007-1072),  was  born  at  Ra- 
venna, the  youngest  of  a  large  family.  His  education  was 
provided  for  by  his  elder  brother,  Damian,  whose  name 
in  grateful  recognition  of  this  generosity  Peter  ever  after- 
wards attached  to  his  own.  He  early  became  a  monk,  and 
in  that  very  corrupt  age  was  notable  for  his  piety.  He 
boldly  denounced  the  current  abuses  and  in  various  ways, 
by  precept,  regulation  and  example,  sought  to  reform  the 
morals  of  the  clergy.  He  was  a  steadfast  friend  and  ally 
of  Hildebrand  in  this  sorely  needed  work.  He  was  made 
a  cardinal,  then  papal  legate  at  Milan,  charged  to  correct 
disorders  in  that  ever  somewhat  independent  diocese. 
This  post  he  soon  resigned,  worn  out  by  conflict  and 
worry.  An  address  which  he  made  to  the  angry  clergy 
and  people  when  papal  legate  at  Milan  is  preserved  and 
shows  both  boldness  and  eloquence.2  He  lived  more 
quietly  after  this,  writing  and  working  in  the  monasteries, 
and  died  peacefully  of  a  fever  at  Faenza  in  1072,  the  year 
before  his  friend  Hildebrand  was  made  pope. 

Of  his  sermons  seventy-two  remain.3  They  have  the 
faults  with  which  we  are  already  familiar  as  characteristic 
of  the  time — copying,  allegory,  excessive  veneration  of 
Mary — but  they  show  some  real  oratorical  talent  and 
much  sweetness  of  spirit  and  piety,  without  much  origi- 

1  Schoell,  in  Herzog,  I.,  S.  185. 

2  There  is  an  English  translation  in  The  World's  Greatest  Ora- 
tors, Vol.   III.    (G.   P.   Putnam's   Sons) ;   also   some   discourses 
in  Neale's  Mediaeval  Preaching. 

"Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  discussed  by  Rothe  and  others. 


THE   EARLY    MEDIAEVAL,   OR   DARK,   AGE  171 

nality  or  profundity  of  thought.  Neale  1  rates  them  very 
highly,  thinking  them  the  best  of  the  age  until  we  come 
to  Bernard ;  but  Rothe's  judgment  is  not  so  favorable  and 
is  nearer  the  truth. 

The  great  theologian  Anselm  (1033-1109)  was  born 
in  northern  Italy,  the  son  of  parents  of  some  rank.  The 
father  was  a  harsh  man,  with  little  sympathy  for  the  boy's 
predilections  toward  piety  and  the  church,  but  the  devout 
mother,  Ermenburga — worthy  to  be  named  with  Nonna, 
Anthusa,  and  Monica — brought  up  her  son  with  studious 
care ;  and  though  he  early  lost  her,  he  never  lost  the  im- 
press of  her  teachings  and  character.  After  her  death  the 
lad  found  his  home  intolerable  and  left  it,  making  his 
way  over  the  mountains  to  the  monastery  of  Bee  in  Nor- 
mandy, where  his  famous  countryman,  Lanfranc,  the 
scholar,  was  abbot.  Lanfranc  was  high  in  the  favor  and 
councils  of  William  of  Normandy,  and  was  appointed  by 
the  Conqueror  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Anselm's  life 
singularly  followed  that  of  his  master,  for  in  process  of 
time  he,  too,  became  abbot  of  Bee,  and  later,  under  Will- 
iam Rufus,  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  In  this  office  he  so 
stoutly  maintained  the  church's  privileges  against  the 
arrogance  and  greed  of  the  king  that  he  was  banished, 
though  afterwards  recalled.  He  lived  till  1 109. 

It  was  during  his  banishment  that  he  wrote  his  immor- 
tal treatise  on  the  incarnation  and  atonement  of  our  Lord, 
called  Cur  Dens  Homo — Why  God-Man?  His  greatest 
distinction  is  as  a  theologian,  both  on  account  of  this 
treatise  and  two  others,  the  Proslogion  and  Monologion; 
and  he  is  rightly  regarded  as  the  most  potent  force  in 
beginning  the  scholastic  theology,  though  Lanfranc  and 
Fulbert  of  Chartres  had  previously  given  it  some  im- 
pulse. Anselm  was  a  great  thinker,  and  a  pure  and  sim- 
ple-hearted man.  His  resistance  to  William  Rufus, 
though  on  the  wrong  side  as  we  now  see  it,  was  not 
prompted  by  pride  or  ambition,  but  was  the  fruit  of  con- 
viction; for  he  held  the  strengthening  views  as  to  the 
papal  prerogatives. 

As  a  preacher  Anselm  did  not  rise  above  his  times.  It 
is  disappointing  to  find  his  sermons  so  distinctly  inferior 
to  his  great  theological  works.  Sixteen  of  his  homilies 

lMediceval  Preaching,  p.  54. 


172  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

have  come  down  to  us.  They  seem  to  be  mostly  if  not 
entirely  addresses  to  the  monks.  They  are  in  the  nature 
of  running  comment — old-fashioned  homilies  indeed — 
upon  the  Scripture  for  the  day.  They  show  no  special 
eloquence,  nor  much  originality  or  profundity  of  thought. 
Allegory,  of  course,  prevails  as  the  mode  of  Scripture  in- 
terpretation, and  there  is  a  trace  of  scholastic  method  here 
and  there.  The  opening  paragraph  of  his  homily  on  Our 
Lord  Walking  on  the  Sea  gives  a  specimen  of  his  method  :l 
"And  straightway  Jesus  constrained  his  disciples  to  get 
into  a  ship,  and  to  go  before  him  to  the  other  side,  while 
he  sent  the  multitude  away.  In  this  lection,  according  to 
its  mystical  interpretation,  we  have  a  summary  descrip- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  Church  from  the  coming  of  the 
Saviour  to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  the  Lord  con- 
strained his  disciples  to  get  into  a  ship  when  he  com- 
mitted the  church  to  the  government  of  the  apostles  and 
their  followers;  and  thus  to  go  on  before  him  unto  the 
other  side,  that  is,  to  bear  onward  towards  the  haven  of 
the  celestial  country,  before  he  himself  should  entirely 
depart  from  this  world.  For  with  his  elect,  and  on  ac- 
count of  his  elect,  he  ever  remains  here  until  the  con- 
summation of  all  things ;  and  he  is  preceded  to  the  other 
side  of  the  sea  of  this  world  by  those  who  daily  pass 
hence  to  the  land  of  the  living.  And  when  he  shall 
have  sent  all  that  are  his  to  that  place,  then,  leaving  the 
multitude  of  the  reprobate,  and  no  longer  warning  them 
to  be  converted,  but  giving  them  over  to  perdition,  he 
will  depart  hence  that  he  may  be  with  his  elect  alone  in 
the  kingdom.  Whence  it  is  added,  while  he  sent  the  multi- 
tude away;  for  in  the  end  of  the  world  he  will  send  away 
the  multitude  of  his  enemies,  that  they  may  then  be  hur- 
ried by  the  devil  to  everlasting  damnation."  Thus  he 
proceeds  verse  by  verse,  giving  special  attention  to  the 
walking  on  the  sea  and  the  sinking  and  rescue  of  Peter. 

Our  survey  of  preaching,  both  in  the  Eastern  and  West- 
ern churches,  during  these  three  dark  centuries  leaves  us 
with  a  feeling  of  depression.  It  was  mostly  weak  imita- 
tion or  straightout  copying  from  the  past ;  it  had  in  the 
West  very  little  and  feeble  use  of  the  vernacular ;  in  both 
sections  of  the  world  it  dealt  largely  in  fables  of  the 

1  Quoted  from  Neale's  Medieval  Preaching,  p.  80. 


THE  EARLY  MEDIEVAL,  OR  DARK,  AGE      173 

saints,  in  extravagant  and  utterly  unscriptural  laudation 
of  Mary  as  almost  the  equal  of  her  divine  Son;  it  laid 
more  stress  on  the  monastic  and  churchly  than  on  the  real 
Christian  virtues;  it  emphasized  the  merit  of  penance 
and  other  works,  and  failed  to  make  prominent  the  aton- 
ing work  of  the  Saviour.  Altogether  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  was  at  its  lowest  stage  during  the  dark  ages  that 
extended  from  the  death  of  Gregory  the  Great  in  604  to 
the  beginning  of  the  Crusades  in  1095.  Yet  some  of  the 
sermons  preserved  from  that  time  show  us  that  though 
weak  and  neglected,  preaching  still  had  some  power  in 
the  world  for  good,  and  was  able  both  to  preserve  and  to 
perpetuate  itself,  notwithstanding  the  most  serious  ex- 
ternal hindrances  and  internal  decay.  The  beginning  of 
the  scholastic  theology,  the  sweep  of  religious  feeling 
aroused  through  Europe  against  the  infidel  desolators  of 
the  Holy  Land,  the  yet  unexhausted  missionary  impulse 
that  had  been  one  of  the  chief  redeeming  features  of  the 
ages  of  darkness,  the  reaction  from  the  extreme  depres- 
sion of  the  tenth  century,  and  the  rise  of  the  living  lan- 
guages of  Europe  as  means  of  literary  and  religious  ex- 
pression, all  are  the  faint  gray  streaks  of  a  coming  dawn. 
"  The  darkest  time  is  just  before  day." 


PERIOD    III 

THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR 
SCHOLASTIC,  AGE 

1095-1361 

From  the  times  of  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Pope  Urban  II.  to  the  close  of 
Tauler's  (d.  1361)  and  the  beginning  of  Wiclif's  (ord.  1361)  Preaching 

CHAPTER  VI 

HERALDS  OF  THE  DAWN  IN  THE  ELEVENTH  AND  TWELFTH 
CENTURIES 

The  hints  given  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  indicate 
the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  civilization, 
of  Christianity,  of  preaching.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century  the  forces  of  this  new  stage  of  human 
progress  are  gathering  strength,  they  gain  in  power  dur- 
ing the  twelfth  century,  urge  the  movement  to  its  height 
in  the  thirteenth,  while  in  the  latter  part  of  that  and  first 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  wave  recedes  to  make 
way  for  another  of  different  character  and  results.  The 
period,  then,  on  which  we  enter  in  this  chapter  (1095- 
1361)  may  be  called  the  core  or  center  of  the  Middle 
Ages ;  and  while  its  limits  are  assigned  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  history  of  preaching,  they  yet  include  events 
and  movements  of  vast  significance  in  general  history. 
This  coincidence  is  not  accidental ;  it  only  means  that  the 
total  life  of  any  great  epoch  must  contain  and  influence 
each  separate  manifestation  of  that  life,  and  that  preach- 
ing has  shared  with  other  elements  of  European  civiliza- 
tion the  quickening  impulses  and  gathered  results  of  this 
momentous  age. 

Of  the  whole  period  the  present  chapter  takes  in  only 
a  fraction  of  the  eleventh  century  and  all  of  the  twelfth. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      175 

A  few  observations  on  the  general  history  of  this  time  will 
somewhat  prepare  the  way  for  a  study  of  its  preaching 
and  preachers. 

i.    GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  TWELFTH  CENTURY 

The  division  of  Charlemagne's  dominions,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  territorial  power  of  the  pope  in  Italy, 
had  shattered  the  ideal  of  having  one  great  Western  Em- 
pire, and  left  the  struggling  germs  of  three  great  nations 
to  come  slowly  toward  their  separate  organic  lives.  These 
were  Italy,  Germany,  and  France.  The  only  one  to  reach 
a  real  national  unity  in  this  period  was  France.  In  the 
eleventh  century  the  forces  working  toward  the  separate 
nationality  of  these  different  peoples  were  more  or  less 
active.  The  languages  were  different.  Italian  and 
French  were  forming  themselves  on  the  basis  of  the 
Latin,  but  the  rough  German  preferred  its  forest  ancestry 
and  repudiated  the  softening  touch  of  the  classic  speech. 
The  peoples,  too,  were  at  bottom  different.  Frank  upon 
Gaul  was  a  different  cross  from  Lombard  upon  Italian, 
and  Teuton  was  not  crossed  save  with  itself. 

In  Britain,  which  was  never  under  the  New  Empire, 
but  with  the  departure  of  the  Roman  eagles  had  pursued 
her  own  course,  there  was  even  a  more  distinct  develop- 
ment. The  Briton  had  gone  down  before  the  conquering 
Saxon,  and  now,  in  the  eleventh  century  (1066),  the 
Saxon  must  accept  the  Norman  conqueror,  and  a  new 
turn  is  given  to  the  language  and  institutions  of  England. 
Such  was  the  national  outlook  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century. 

In  this  time  the  political  aspect  of  Italy  was  simply 
chaotic.  In  the  eleventh  century  the  Normans  had  estab- 
lished themselves  in  Sicily,  and  for  ages  that  island  and 
the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula  constituted  dukedoms 
and  kingdoms  under  various  dynasties  and  nations.  In 
the  north  the  Lombard  kingdom  gave  way  to  city  repub- 
lics, and  these  to  family  governments.  Besides  these  the 
great  cities  of  Genoa  and  Venice  rose  through  commerce 
to  wealth  and  independence,  and  were  fierce  .rivals  in  trade. 
In  central  Italy  fair  Florence  advanced  step  by  step  to 
power  and  renown.  None  of  these  discordant  states  could 
offer  to  the  Italian  people  a  strong  centre  of  attraction. 


I?  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

The  brilliant  attempt  of  Arnold  of  Brescia  to  establish 
a  republic  at  Rome  ended  in  failure  and  the  death  of  the 
premature  patriot. 

With  abundant  differences  of  detail  and  of  national 
character  the  political  affairs  of  the  German  people  present 
a  singular  parallel  to  those  of  Italy,  not  only  in  the  special 
period  under  our  present  study,  but  for  a  longer  time. 
The  revival  of  the  empire  under  Otto  the  Great  in  the 
tenth  century  gave  some  hope  of  national  and  imperial 
unity;  but  while  France  was  now  politically  separate 
from  the  empire,  distracted  Italy  offered  constant  tempta- 
tion to  conquest,  and  the  shadowy  phantom  of  universal 
European  empire  still  beguiled  the  fancy  of  the  German 
kings.  Thus  Italy  and  Germany  mingle  their  own  dis- 
cords into  a  larger  din  of  utter  confusion,  and  the  patient 
ear  of  history  waited  long  before  hearing  the  first  full 
notes  of  harmony.  But  when  we  turn  our  attention  to  the 
other  two  nations  we  shall  find  a  very  different  state  of 
affairs. 

After  the  division  of  Charlemagne's  dominions  France, 
as  a  country,  nation,  and  government,  pursued  its  own 
line  of  development.  The  keynote  of  its  political  progress 
for  centuries,  including  the  central  mediaeval  period,  was 
the  struggle  for  royal  power.  There  was  a  king  in  name, 
but  he  was  only  the  weak,  nominal  overlord  of  powerful 
vassals,  several  of  whom  singly  were  richer  and  stronger 
than  he,  and  over  whom  as  a  whole  his  authority  amounted 
to  nothing.  In  the  twelfth  century  Philip  Augustus 
made  substantial  progress  in  reducing  the  power  of  the 
great  feudal  lords  and  extending  his  own.  After  his  re- 
turn from  Palestine  in  1191  he  pressed  this  policy  to  the 
end  of  his  life  in  1223,  gaining  much  territory  from  the 
English  possessions  in  France  and  in  various  ways  weak- 
ening the  nobles.  With  him  the  monarchy  in  France 
became  rich. 

Very  different  from  that  of  her  continental  neighbors 
was  the  political  history  of  England  during  this  great 
epoch.  Like  France,  she  developed  a  strong  national  life 
and  government,  but  her  monarchy  tended  to  limitation 
and  not  to  despotism.  The  Norman  Conquest  in  1066 
made  the  king  and  his  nobles  the  governing  class  in  the 
country.  But  the  Saxon  love  of  liberty  was  to  be  reck- 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIAEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      177 

oned  with  always,  and  the  hot  Norman  blood  of  the 
barons  was  not  to  be  too  hastily  stirred  by  royal  tyran- 
nies. By  these  three  forces  the  political  development  of 
the  English  people  was  mainly  guided.  The  first  Norman 
kings  were  tyrants  in  character,  but  could  not  always  be 
in  fact,  and  many  of  the  Plantagenets  were  very  able  and 
wise  rulers,  who  knew  how  far  they  dared  go  in  the  asser- 
tion of  kingly  power. 

Among  all  these  peoples,  alike  in  many  respects  while 
so  unlike  in  others,  there  grew  during  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury a  firmer  grasp  on  life,  less  dependence  on  a  decayed 
past  and  more  assertion  of  conscious  strength,  reaction 
from  the  depression  and  darkness  of  the  tenth  century, 
more  hopefulness  and  vigor  in  all  the  lines  of  human 
effort.  In  the  sphere  of  thought  the  work  of  Lanfranc, 
of  his  distinguished  follower  Anselm,  and  of  others  of 
like  mind,  was  laying  fast  and  solid  the  foundation  of 
that  mighty  fabric  of  theological  and  philosophical  dialec- 
tics which  trained  and  exercised  for  three  hundred  years 
the  best  human  intellects — scholasticism.  In  religion  the 
reformatory  work  of  Hildebrand,  beginning  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  and  pursued  with  ardor 
all  his  strenuous  life,  had  awakened  the  active  sympathy 
of  men  like  Peter  Damiani  and  was  bringing  forth  fruit 
meet  for  repentance  in  the  lives  of  priests  and  people. 
Along  with  this  there  was  among  the  masses  of  these 
nations  a  nascent  sense  of  power;  and  at  the  same  time 
in  all  classes  a  consciousness  of  moral  and  spiritual  low- 
ness  and  need. 

On  this  gathered  fuel  fell  the  spark  of  eloquence  which 
kindled  a  wondrous  flame  of  partly  religious,  partly  su- 
perstitious, partly  political,  and  wholly  adventurous  en- 
thusiasm which,  in  spite  of  repeated  dampers,  flared  up 
at  intervals  during  nearly  two  hundred  years,  and  only 
flickered  out  at  last  from  sheer  exhaustion.  In  1095  at 
a  great  council  at  Piacenza  ambassadors  appeared  from 
Alexis  Comnenus,  emperor  of  the  East,  calling  attention 
to  the  menacing  and  destructive  attitude  of  the  Saracens, 
and  begging  for  help  against  these  violators  of  the  Holy 
Land.  Pope  Urban  II.  heard  with  sympathy,  and  the 
council  favored  giving  the  help.  But  there  was  not  quite 
enough  enthusiasm  about  it,  and  Urban,  himself  a  French- 


178  A   HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

man,  adjourned  the  council  and  called  another  at  Cler- 
mont,  in  France,  later  in  the  same  year.  Here  his  elo- 
quent appeal  stirred  the  audience  to  a  frenzy  of  enthusi- 
asm. The  people,  too,  were  aroused  by  the  preaching  of 
Peter  the  Hermit  and  others  sent  out  by  Urban,  and  after 
a  while  the  first  Crusade  was  started.  This  is  not  the 
the  place  to  follow  the  long  and  checkered  story  of  these 
expeditions.  It  took  two  centuries  of  costly  failure  to 
teach  the  West  its  lesson. 

But  during  this  time  Europe  was  undergoing  great 
changes  and  getting  ready  for  the  beginning  of  her  mod- 
ern course  of  development  in  civilization,  which  was  to 
come  by  way  of  the  Renaissance  and  Reformation  several 
centuries  later.  The  mighty  though  misdirected  efforts 
of  the  Crusades  had  stirred  the  minds  of  all  classes  of  the 
people,  from  kings  and  nobles  to  burghers  and  peasants. 
All  elements  of  life  were  touched  with  a  new  breath,  and 
so  we  shall  find  that  with  the  Crusades,  preaching,  too, 
entered  a  new  phase. 

Yet  it  is,  of  course,  in  the  realm  of  church  and  religion 
that  we  find  the  largest  area  of  contact  between  the  gen- 
eral life  of  the  period  and  preaching.  Some  knowledge 
of  general  religious  conditions  as  then  existing  is  there- 
fore essential  to  a  good  understanding  of  the  preaching 
of  the  time ;  but  as  the  discussion  of  the  pulpit  will  bring 
out  many  of  the  details  of  religious  life,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary here  only  to  notice  a  few  of  the  salient  features  of 
the  history. 

The  death  of  Gregory  VII.  in  1085  closed  a  remarkable 
career  and  a  most  important  era.  The  reforms  he  had 
carried  within  the  church,  and  the  claims  he  had  asserted 
for  it,  left  the  papacy  jtt  the  highest  point  it  had  yet 
reached  in  power  and  influence.  The  eloquent  champion- 
ship of  the  first  crusade  by  Urban  II.  was  another  step 
in  realizing  and  exhibiting  the  power  of  the  pope  in  Eu- 
rope, and  also  was  an  addition  to  papal  prestige  in  that 
the  principal  part  in  the  early  crusades  was  borne  by  the 
Latin  nations,  friendly  to  the  papacy,  and  not  by  Ger- 
many, its  rival.  Other  things  that  helped  on  the  ascen- 
dency of  papal  power  were :  the  great  extension  of  canon 
law,  that  is,  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church  in  causes 
of  various  sorts;  the  rise  and  extension  of  orders  of 
monks  more  directly  amenable  to  the  pope  than  to  the 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     179 

bishops ;  and  the  great  influence  of  men  like  Bernard  and 
others  who  were  its  devoted  adherents. 

The  Concordat  of  Worms  in  1122  was  a  compromise 
between  emperor  and  pope  on  the  long-standing  contro- 
versy over  investiture,  that  is,  whether  the  prelates  in  any 
country  should  be  appointed  to  office  by  the  pope  or  the 
national  sovereign.  It  was  against  the  interest  of  the  civil 
government  that  officebearers  of  so  great  influence  as 
bishops  and  higher  prelates  should  hold  directly  from  a 
foreign  power;  it  was  against  the  interest  of  the  church 
that  its  highest  functionaries  in  any  land  should  hold 
office  by  appointment  of  the  temporal  power.  The  ques- 
tion was  vital;  the  only  real  settlement  of  it  could  be  in 
the  supremacy  of  one  or  the  other  authority.  A  com- 
promise could  only  prolong  the  real  feud  under  seeming 
peace,  or  veil  the  actual  power  of  one  of  the  parties  by 
apparent  concessions  to  the  other.  The  Concordat  was 
such  a  compromise  ;  it  gave  to  the  pope  investiture  by  ring 
and  staff — the  symbols  of  spiritual  leadership,  to  the  king 
appointment  by  the  sceptre,  the  token  of  royal  authority. 
The  incumbent  could  not  be  fully  in  office  without  both 
acts,  and  thus  if  (as  was  usually  the  case)  the  royal 
appointment  followed  the  papal,  the  king  held  a  veto  on 
the  pope's  appointments.  This  and  other  things  left  the 
way  open  for  endless  disputes.  Yet  the  Concordat  did 
give  something  of  a  breathing  spell.  But  soon  the  strug- 
gle between  pope  and  emperor  broke  out  again,  and  this 
time  it  was  the  death  struggle.  The  Guelf  party,  favor- 
ing the  pope,  and  the  Ghibelline,  favoring  the  emperor, 
kept  Italy  and  Germany  in  turmoil  for  many  years.  The 
hard-headed  Adrian  IV. — the  only  Englishman  ever  made 
pope — offered  a  firm  and  successful  resistance  to  the 
great  emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa.  At  the  turn  of  the 
centuries  (1198-1216)  the  greatest  of  all  the  popes — Inno- 
cent III. — was  in  the  chair.  In  him  the  papal  power 
reached  its  zenith. 

In  the  life  and  character  of  the  clergy,  the  moral  and 
religious  state  of  the  people,  and  some  other  matters  vi- 
tally affecting  preaching,  the  conditions  were  so  much 
the  same  as  those  which  more  distinctly  and  fully  charac- 
terized the  thirteenth  century  that  detailed  consideration 
of  these  points  is  deferred  to  the  next  chapter.  It  is  quite 
time  for  us  to  come  to  the  preaching  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. 


l8o  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

2.    PREACHING  IN  THE  TWELFTH  CENTURY 

Although  the  Crusades  put  the  old  Eastern  Empire  and 
the  Greek  church  more  in  contact  with  the  West  than  had 
been  the  case  for  ages,  we  do  not  find  that  this  contact 
(or  anything  else!)  galvanized  the  corpse  of  Greek 
preaching.  We  may  as  well  here,  once  for  all,  dismiss  the 
consideration  of  it  for  the  time  included  between  the  end 
of  the  eleventh  century  and  the  Reformation.  In  all  this 
time  there  was  of  course  preaching;  and  some  sermons 
and  the  names  of  some  of  the  more  important  preachers 
have  come  down  to  us.  But  the  sermons — many  of  them 
yet  unprinted  and  accessible  only  in  manuscript  in  certain 
libraries — have  nothing  remarkable  to  offer.  They  are 
of  the  conventional  type  of  decayed  Greek  preaching. 
Some  of  the  preachers,  as  John  Caleca,  Gregory  Palamas, 
George  Scholarius,  and  others  are  more  or  less  known  to 
historical  and  theological  scholars,  but  scarcely  beyond 
those  limits. 

In  the  West,  however,  a  very  different  state  of  things 
meets  us.1  Here  there  is  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury and  through  the  twelfth  a  distinct  improvement  in 
the  power  and  effect  of  preaching,  though  as  yet  not  very 
much  in  contents.  It  will  be  well  to  pay  attention  to  the 
signs  and  causes  of  this  revival. 

As  France  was  the  leading  country  in  Western  Europe 
during  this  age  it  is  natural  that  we  should  find  there 

1  The  works  winch  have  been  principally  used  in  the  preparation 
of  the  following  pages  are :  La  Chaire  Franfaise  au  Xllme  Siecle, 
par  M.  1'Abbe  L.  Bourgain ;  La  Chaire  Franfaise  au  Moyen  Age, 
par  M.  Lecoy  de  la  Marche;  Geschichte  der  Predigt  in  Deutsch- 
land  bis  Luther  (especially  Bd.  II.,  Die  Bliitezeit  der  Deutschen 
Pred.  im  M.-A.),  von  F.  R.  Albert;  Der  Heilige  Bernhard  und 
sein  Zeitalter,  von  A.  Neander ;  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Predigt 
im  Mittelalter,  von  R  .Cruel ;  Geschichte  der  Predigt  in  Deutsch- 
land  von  Karl  dent  Grossen  bis  sum  Anfang  dcs  i$ten  Jahr- 
hunderts,  von  A.  Linsenmayer  (Catholic)  ;  L'Oratoria  Sacra  I  tali- 
ana  net  Media  Evo,  da  Luigi  Marenco ;  Old  English  Homilies  of 
the  Twelfth  Century  (Vol.  II.  of  these  in  Publications  of  the  Early 
English  Text  Society},  edited,  etc.,  by  R.  Morris.  These  will  be 
referred  to  simply  by  the  name  of  the  author  in  each  case.  Many 
other  works,  including,  as  far  as  was  practicable,  the  sources, 
have  of  course  been  consulted,  and  general  reading  has  left  its 
impressions  in  many  cases  where  minute  acknowledgment  is 
impossible. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      l8l 

more  than  elsewhere  the  evidences  of  a  revived  interest  in 
preaching.  In  other  lands,  too,  there  is  heightened  inter- 
est, and  indeed  throughout  the  Western  European  coun- 
tries there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  darkest  ages  of  preach- 
ing are  now  in  the  past. 

Speaking  summarily,  we  may  say  that  the  leading  to- 
kens of  the  revival  are  two :  ( I )  There  is  a  greater  regard 
for  preaching  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  themselves.  The 
shameful  neglect  of  the  past  centuries  begins  to  be  re- 
dressed, and  the  mediaeval  Christian  Israel  suffers  no 
longer  so  great  a  dearth  of  "  teaching  priests."  Much  re- 
mains to  be  done,  many  faults  to  be  corrected,  but  there  is 
hope  of  better  things,  yea,  better  things  have  already 
begun  to  be,  when  the  preachers  themselves  magnify  their 
office.  (2)  The  other  token  of  revival  is  the  converse  of 
this ;  it  is  that  the  people  of  all  classes  begin  to  show  more 
respect  for  the  real  preacher  and  more  interest  in  his 
message.  It  is  true  that  scant  respect  is  due,  and  scant 
respect  is  shown,  to  the  still  too  numerous  preaching  offi- 
cials who  deserve  not  the  name  of  preacher.  But  where 
a  man  like  Bernard,  or  Fulco  of  Neuilly,  or,  among  the 
so-called  heretics,  one  like  Henry  of  Lausanne,  appears, 
the  admiration  and  love  of  the  people  are  abundantly  in 
evidence.  The  very  opposition  occasionally  roused  by  the 
preacher  showed  how  great  was  the  power  of  his  word. 
The  bad  priests  sometimes  endeavored  to  stop  the  good 
ones,  even  using  personal  violence;  and  the  loose  and 
wicked  among  the  people  once  in  a  while  raised  perse- 
cution against  the  brave  men  who  denounced  their  sins. 
Bourgain  well  says l  that  the  popular  and  worthy 
preacher  was  thus  exposed  to  the  double  peril  of  persecu- 
tion by  his  enemies  and  overpraise  by  his  friends.  Alas ! 
it  is  one  of  the  perennial  perils  of  a  fearless  and  able 
ministry.  But  the  fact  shows  that  preaching  was  no 
longer  to  be  despised.  Moreover  the  greater  crowds 
which  now  began  to  attend  popular  preaching  show  this 
quickening  of  general  interest  in  the  work. 

When  we  attempt  to  find  and  state  the  causes  which  led 
to  this  revival  of  interest  in  preaching  we  are  met  by  the 
difficulties  natural  to  such  inquiries,  and  yet  we  may  not 
decline  the  task.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  Chris- 

*Pp.  8,  9. 


1 82  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

tian  faith  the  one  great  cause  lies  hidden  in  the  unre- 
vealed  designs  and  movements  of  Divine  Providence,  and 
in  the  mysterious  and  gracious  workings  of  that  blessed 
Power  of  whom  the  highest  authority  declares  i1  "  The 
Spirit  breathes  where  he  will,  and  you  hear  his  voice,  but 
know  not  whence  he  comes  and  whither  he  goes;  so  is 
everyone  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  From  the  point  of 
view  of  history  and  philosophy  the  deeper  cause  lies  be- 
yond ken  in  that  mighty  law  of  ebb  and  flow,  action  and 
reaction,  which  directs,  yet  with  no  perceived  regularity, 
the  course  of  human  affairs.  The  rhythmic  action  of  this 
great  law  is  detected  in  all  those  larger  and  nobler  activi- 
ties of  man  which  for  lack  of  a  more  accurate  designa- 
tion we  may  call  spiritual :  the  realms  of  literature  2  and 
art,  of  science  and  philosophy,  of  statecraft  and  commerce, 
of  manners  and  morals,  of  religion.  Even  when  we  admit 
the  mystery  of  this  great  law  of  up  and  down,  of  forward 
and  backward,  and  attempt  only  to  detect  and  name  what 
we  are  pleased  to  call  "  proximate  causes,"  we  cannot  al- 
ways be  sure  of  our  ground.  For  sometimes  we  call 
causes  what  are  in  fact  effects,  accompaniments,  symp- 
toms. 

Yet,  bearing  in  mind  these  greater  and  deeper  causes, 
we  may  go  on  to  present  those  more  evident  events  and 
movements  which  seem  to  account  for  the  marked  revival 
of  interest  and  power  which  we  observe  in  the  preaching 
of  the  twelfth  century.  In  general  it  may  be  said  that 
this  revival  was  one  element  or  part  of  that  quickening 
of  life  which  was  felt  throughout  Europe  in  this  age. 
And  more  especially  we  may  distinguish  and  emphasize 
the  following  five  things :  ( I )  The  reforms  instituted  by 
Gregory  VII.  among  the  clergy  must  have  had  weight. 
To  be  sure  there  was  much  yet  to  be  done ;  but  a  more 
earnest  spirit  of  devotion,  a  better  life,  and  a  higher  re- 
gard for  preaching  as  a  part  of  their  work  seem  to  char- 
acterize the  clergy  at  the  beginning  of  this  time.  Always 
when  the  preachers  themselves  have  a  proper  conception 
of  their  work,  and  live  more  nearly  up  to  the  standard 
which  their  exalted  office  requires,  preaching  will  be  more 

1John  3:  8 — perhaps  the  most  probable  meaning. 

*  For  an  interesting  discussion  of  how  this  law  has  worked 
in  German  literature  see  W.  Scherer,  Gesch.  der  Deutschen 
^iteratur,  SS.  ip,  20, 


THE    CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      183 

earnest  and  more  fruitful.  (2)  Along  with  this  spiritual 
quickening  among  the  clergy  must  be  reckoned  also  the 
intellectual  revival  which  expressed  itself  in  that  form 
of  philosophical  thinking  in  theology  to  which  the  name 
of  scholasticism  is  given.  The  rise  of  this  mode  of  thought, 
especially  among  the  clergy,  has  already  been  noticed,  and 
will  be  more  fully  discussed  later  on ; 1  but  it  must  here 
be  reckoned,  with  all  its  shortcomings,  as  one  of  the  most 
potent  causes  and  accompaniments  of  the  revived  preach- 
ing of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  When  the 
preachers — even  the  few,  the  leaders — think  profoundly 
on  religious  themes  there  must  be  a  heightened  tone  in 
preaching.  (3)  Another  potent  cause,  noticed  by  both 
Catholic  and  Protestant  writers,2  was  the  work  of  the  so- 
called  heretics.  Many  of  these  in  the  twelfth  century 
were  thinkers  of  no  mean  order,  and  one  of  the  ways 
they  took  to  disseminate  their  views  was  by  preaching 
among  the  people.  This  stirred  the  Catholics  to  use  simi- 
lar means  to  meet  what  they  considered  dangerous  errors. 
All  through  this  century  and  the  next,  preaching  for  and 
against  heresy  is  very  common.  Scholasticism  repre- 
sented religious  thinking  in  the  schools,  heresy  among  the 
masses.  Both  stimulated  and  influenced  preaching. 
(4)  We  must  repeat  that  the  crusades  were  a  powerful 
factor  in  stimulating  preaching.  This  they  did  not  only 
by  the  general  stir  they  produced,  and  not  only  by  the 
partially  religious  character  of  the  enthusiasm  they  awak- 
ened, but  more  especially  and  directly  by  the  use  they 
made  of  popular  preaching.  The  oral  address,  whether 
by  an  Urban  before  the  princes  at  Clermont,  or  by  a 
Peter  the  Hermit,  or  a  Raoul  the  Ardent  among  the 
people,  was  the  means  employed  to  arouse  the  masses. 
After  these  first  preachers  came  Bernard  and  others  to 
preach  the  later  crusades.  It  was  not  exactly  preaching — 
in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word — but  it  was  the  urging 
of  men  to  immediate  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  what  was 
believed  to  be  a  religious  cause.  It  appealed  to  religious 
motives — at  least  in  part — and  thus  it  revealed  and  util- 
ized the  power  of  religious  eloquence  over  the  masses  of 
men.  So,  while  we  well  might  wish  that  the  object  had 

1  See  below  p.  231  ff. 

*  Linsenmayer,  Bourgain,  Broadus,  and  others. 


184  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

been  more  truly  Christian,  the  motives  purer,  and  the 
methods  more  enlightened,  it  is  yet  true  that  the  procla- 
mation of  the  crusades  was  a  mighty  and  a  permanent 
step  forward  in  the  development  of  popular  preaching. 
(5)  Another  notable  cause  in  making  the  preaching  of 
the  age  powerful  was  the  increased  and  more  effective  use 
of  the  language  of  the  people.  We  have  already  seen  * 
that  in  the  preceding  age  the  national  languages  were 
forming,  and  were  coming  into  competition  with  the  Latin 
as  means  of  preaching.  Now,  just  when  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  crusades  called  for  effective  popular  address, 
this  tendency  shows  marked  advance,  so  as  to  make  this 
epoch  the  transition  period  to  the  general  use  of  these 
languages  in  the  sermons  of  Europe  till  in  the  sixteenth 
century  the  triumph  of  the  vernaculars  is  complete.  But 
this  important  matter,  besides  being  a  cause  of  revival,  re- 
quires fuller  notice  as  marking  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing features  of  the  age. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  divide  scholars 
as  to  the  use  of  the  popular  tongues  in  the  preaching  be- 
fore this  time,  it  is  generally  admitted  that  in  the  twelfth 
century  these  languages  were  widely  if  not  generally 
employed  in  the  sermons  addressed  to  the  people.2  Lecoy 
de  la  Marche  has  shown  that  in  the  thirteenth  century  the 
French  tongue  was  chiefly  used  in  preaching  to  the  people 
in  France ;  and  that  this  usage  rests  upon  a  custom  grow- 
ing faster  and  firmer  from  preceding  times.  Other  writers 
have  followed  the  same  kinds  of  investigation  for  other 
countries  and  have  reached  assured  conclusions.  The 
twelfth  century  therefore  witnesses  the  widespread  and 
firmly  fixed,  though  not  yet  universal  and  exclusive,  use 
of  the  native  and  living  languages  of  Europe  in  the  pulpit. 
But  granting  this,  there  are  several  related  questions 
which  require  to  be  noticed. 

Have  we  any  sermons  now  remaining  in  the  twelfth 
century  forms  of  modern  European  languages  ?  In  Italian 

1  See  above,  p.  165  f. 

2  So  for  France,  Bourgain  and  Lecoy  de  la  Marche ;  for  Ger- 
many Cruel,  Linsenmayer,  and  for  the  twelfth  century,  Albert; 
for  Italy  Marenco  and  Zanotto    (Storia  della  Predicazione  nei 
Secoli  della  Letteratura  Italiana) ;  and  for  England  The  Old 
English  Homilies. 


THE    CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      185 

there  seem  to  be  none.1  In  German  there  are  a  great 
number.2  In  French  there  seem  not  to  be  many  published 
collections,  but  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  and  Bourgain  have 
studied  and  reported  a  large  number  in  manuscript  which 
they  found  in  libraries  and  collections.  In  English  the 
Publications  of  the  Early  English  Text  Society  contain 
volumes  edited  by  Dr.  Morris  of  Old  English  Homilies, 
dating  from  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  These 
sermons  in  themselves,  as  we  shall  see,  are  of  little  value, 
but  to  the  students  of  language,  literature,  and  theology 
they  are  relics  of  inestimable  importance. 

Another  question — chiefly  of  literary  and  philological 
interest — relates  to  the  state  of  the  languages  themselves 
as  compared  with  their  modern  descendants.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  remark  on  this  point  that  by  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury the  native  tongues  had  already  acquired  distinctive 
character  and  a  considerable  degree  of  firmness.  There 
are  various  literary  remains  from  this  age  which  are 
highly  prized  by  students  and  lovers  of  literature.  It  is 
for  us  a  matter  of  no  little  interest  to  find  that  in  that 
nascent  literature  of  Europe  preaching  had  a  place  of  its 
own,  and  has  sent  on  to  modern  times  specimens  of  its 
contribution  to  the  general  sum.  The  preacher,  as  well 
as  the  poet  and  historian,  had  his  place  in  guiding  and 
fixing  the  linguistic  development  of  European  literature. 

The  remaining  question  to  be  considered  is,  What  was 
the  relation  between  the  Latin  and  the  vernacular  lan- 
guages in  the  uses  of  the  pulpit?  It  is  rather  a  com- 
plicated question.  We  must  bear  in  mind  several  facts. 
One  is  that  the  Latin  was  actually  used  in  spoken  sermons 
not  only  in  the  twelfth  century,  but  much  later,  along 
with  the  growing  use  of  the  national  tongues.  On  this 
point  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  determine  and  express 
with  any  precision  the  exact  proportion  of  use ;  but  it  is 
quite  evident  that  as  the  employment  of  the  other  lan- 
guages increased  that  of  the  Latin  declined. 

Another  fact  is  that  by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  all 

1  Marenco,  cap.  I.,  says  that  there  is  one  Italian  sermon  which 
may  date  from  the  twelfth  century,  but  as  the  first  one  he  is 
sure  of  belongs  to  the  fourteenth,  the  point  is  not  settled. 

a  Linsenmayer,  S.  245  ff. ;  Cruel,  S.  146  ff. ;  Albert,  I.,  sec.  I ; 
all  of  whom  refer  to  a  number  of  collections  made  by  other 
German  scholars. 


1 86  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

the  sermons  that  have  come  down  to  us,  not  only  from 
the  twelfth  century,  but  from  the  entire  Middle  Ages,  are 
in  Latin.  Some  of  the  earlier  writers  on  the  history  of 
preaching,  as  well  as  some  later  critics,  have  been  led  by 
this  fact  to  suppose  that  most  of  the  sermons  of  the  middle 
centuries  were  actually  delivered  in  Latin.  But  the  ex- 
cellent work  of  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  and  others  has  shown 
that  the  fact  can  be  easily  explained.  The  explanation  is 
that  many  of  the  sermons  which  were  delivered  in  the 
common  tongues  were  written  in  Latin.  This  was  some- 
times done  by  the  preachers  themselves,  either  before  de- 
livery as  sketches  or  notes,  or  after  preaching  as  abbrevi- 
ated reproductions.  Sometimes  the  sermons  were  repro- 
duced by  hearers  from  notes  taken  on  the  spot  or  from 
memory.  They  were  written  in  Latin  because  that  was 
still  the  language  of  writing,  of  publication,  of  culture,  the 
common  medium  of  European  scholarship.  A  man  would 
have  more  hearers  when  he  used  the  common  tongue,  but 
more  readers  when  he  used  the  Latin.  The  educated  dis- 
regarded the  common  tongue  as  unsuited  to  writing.  It 
is  recalled  that  Dante,  even  in  the  thirteenth  century,  was 
minded  to  write  his  great  epic,  as  he  had  written  his 
great  treatise  on  government,  in  Latin,  but  for  some 
reason  did  use  the  Italian.  As  for  the  common  people, 
few  if  any  could  read  either  language. 

The  next  matter  of  importance  for  us  to  consider  is 
the  preservation  of  sermons.  And  here  several  items 
claim  attention.  First  of  all  we  have  to  make  the  obvious 
remark  that  the  most  of  them  have  not  been  preserved 
at  all !  This  is  true  of  every  age,  and  was  no  less  so  of 
the  twelfth  century.  Many  of  the  preachers  of  these 
sermons  are  now  unknown,  some  have  left  a  reputation 
for  eloquence,  but  no  specimens;  while  some  have  left 
specimens,  but,  unhappily,  no  eloquence.  Nor  is  this  be- 
yond explanation.  For  even  to-day  many  of  our  most 
effective  preachers  never  get  their  sermons  printed,  and 
the  printed  sermons  of  many  others  are  not  fair  speci- 
mens of  their  power  before  an  audience.  Our  criticism 
of  any  age,  as  of  our  own,  must  on  this  account  be  cau- 
tious; and  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  homiletic  remains  of 
the  twelfth  century  hardly  convey  to  us  a  just  idea  of  the 
actual  and  effective  preaching  of  that  stirring  time. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      187 

Another  item  of  interest — already  briefly  noticed  in  an- 
other connection — is  that  we  have  from  this  age  numer- 
ous collections  of  anonymous  sermons — some  in  Latin, 
some  in  German,  in  French,  and  in  English.  One  of  the 
peculiarities  of  mediaeval  preaching — from  the  time  of 
Charlemagne  onward — was  the  preparation  and  employ- 
ment of  homiliaries  or  collections  of  sermons  for  the  use 
of  the  clergy.  They  might  use  them  as  models  and 
guides,  or  might  commit  and  recite  them,  or,  in  extreme 
cases,  might  read  them.  This  plagiarism  was  not  consid- 
ered a  fault — it  found  early  and  authoritative  justification 
in  something  that  the  great  Augustine  had  written !  Both 
Rabanus  Maurus  and  Paul  the  Deacon  in  the  preceding 
times  had  made  these  collections,  and  the  work  went  on 
for  ages. 

The  striking  thing  about  the  sermons  found  in  these 
collections  is  their  strong  family  likeness,  their  lack  of 
individuality,  of  originality.  When  we  compare  the  Latin 
and  English  sermons  with  the  criticisms  of  the  scholars 
who  are  familiar  with  those  found  in  the  German  and 
French  collections  we  see  that  these  homilies  have  much 
the  same  character  in  all.  The  reason  lies  chiefly  in  the 
fact  that  they  are  mostly  compilations  and  reproductions 
of  older  authors.  Among  these  the  prime  favorites x 
seem  to  have  been  Augustine  (or  what  was  reported  to  be 
his  work),  Caesarius  of  Aries,  Gregory  the  Great,  and 
Bede — the  last-named,  as  we  have  seen,2  being  largely  a 
compiler  himself. 

These  collections,  then,  give  us  a  saddening  view  of 
the  dependence  and  tameness  of  the  twelfth  century 
preaching,  but  we  must  qualify  this  judgment  by  remem- 
bering what  has  just  been  said  about  the  many  unwritten 
sermons  that  stirred  the  age,  and  also  by  taking  note  of 
what  is  now  to  be  said  about  those  whose  authors  are 
known  to  us. 

For  we  have  also  from  the  twelfth  century  a  large 
number  of  authentic  sermons.  Many  of  these  have  the 
faults  of  the  anonymous  ones,  but  they  show,  as  is  natu- 
ral, more  individuality,  more  original  force,  more  fresh- 
ness. These  sermons  exist,  for  reasons  given  above, 
mostly  in  Latin;  but  there  are  some  in  French,  and  one 

1  Linsenmayer,  SS.  193,  194.  "  See  above,  p.  147. 


1 88  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

of  the  German  collections  is  ascribed  to  a  certain  Conrad 
the  Priest,  of  whom  Albert 1  says,  "  To  the  priest  Conrad 
belongs  the  honor  of  having  left  the  most  important  col- 
lection of  sermons  [in  German]  before  Berthold  of  Re- 
gensburg."  We  shall  see  more  of  these  later  on. 

The  form  and  contents  of  twelfth  century  sermons 
offer  a  curious  and  not  unprofitable  subject  of  study, 
which  has  received  suitable  attention  at  the  hands  of  the 
scholars  whose  excellent  leadership  we  have  been  follow- 
ing. These  sermons  did  not  reach  the  excellence  of  an- 
cient times  nor  that  of  the  following  centuries,  but  they 
begin  to  show  improvement  upon  the  immediate  past.  The 
old  form  of  the  simple  expository  and  hortatory  homily 
was  retained.  There  was  not  so  much  attention  to  ar- 
rangement and  division  as  we  shall  find  in  the  sermons 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  but  already  this  tendency  to  a 
more  logical  structure  and  penetrating  analysis  begins  to 
show  itself.  This  appears  in  the  sermons  of  Bernard, 
who  sometimes  announces  his  plan  of  treatment  in  ad- 
vance of  discussion.  He  is  considered  by  some  to  have 
introduced,  or  at  least  to  have  improved  and  popularized, 
the  analytic  method,  and  thus  to  have  set  the  fashion  for 
all  following  times.  Others,  as  Broadus,2  assign  a  pre- 
eminence in  this  direction  to  Antony  of  Padua  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  Both  these  great  popular  preachers 
only  used,  developed  and  set  going  a  tendency  which 
was  native  to  the  time,  which  we  shall  hereafter  more 
fully  notice,  as  it  came  to  its  height  in  the  next  century — 
that  is,  the  scholastic  method.  And  it  naturally  finds  a 
more  complete  application  in  the  hands  of  Antony  than 
of  Bernard,  who  was  influenced  by  its  beginnings  and  not 
its  full  growth. 

Along  with  this  growing  fondness  in  the  contemporary 
mental  attitude  for  logical  analysis  we  must  notice  the 
fact  that  the  teaching  of  homiletics  was  not  neglected  in 
this  age.  Not  only  was  there  probably  oral  teaching  on 
the  subject  in  the  schools  for  clerical  education,3  but  there 
were  numerous  homiletical  helps  provided.  These,  as 
we  have  seen,  were  partly  in  the  way  of  sermons  or  homi- 
lies already  prepared,  and  thus  were  injurious  rather  than 

1  Bd.  I,  S.  9.  *  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  103. 

"Mentioned  by  both   Cruel  and  Linsenmayer. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      189 

helpful.  But  along  with  this  there  were  numerous  treat- 
ises which  taught  the  art  of  preaching.1  It  is  true  that 
these  treatises  themselves  show  little  originality  or  power, 
but  the  use  of  them  was  at  least  favorable  to  a  better 
rhetorical  practice.  And  this  practice  so  far  shows  itself 
in  many  of  the  sermons  that  Bourgain  2  is  led  to  a  too 
enthusiastic  estimate  of  the  rhetorical  facility  of  the 
preachers  of  the  time,  saying  that  many  of  them  "  seem  to 
have  known  Fenelon  3  in  advance." 

As  to  other  matters  of  rhetoric,  style  did  not  so  much 
differ  with  individuals  as  is  common.  This  is  accounted 
for  by  the  use  of  homilies,  imitation,  copying  and  the  like. 
The  style  of  these  homilies  is  usually  tame,  but  unpreten- 
tious and  clear.  With  vigorous  men  like  Raoul  the 
Ardent  and  Bernard  there  is  of  course  less  of  the  com- 
monplace and  a  more  pronounced  individuality  in  the  style. 
In  some  of  the  sermons  there  is  a  turgidity  and  laboring 
after  effect  which  reminds  us  of  the  later  Greek  preach- 
ers. In  others  plays  upon  words,  and  rhymed  prose,  or 
assonance,  are  much  sought  after.  The  use  of  illustration, 
especially  legend  and  anecdote,  was  frequent,  but  not 
always  very  clever.  Albert  *  calls  this  whole  time  the 
"  narrative  period "  in  preaching,  from  the  liberal  use 
of  narrative  as  compared  with  argument,  exposition,  and 
doctrine.  Yet  he  says  that  it  is  impossible  to  declare  any 
one  method  to  have  been  dominant.  As  the  material  was 
gathered  from  many  sources  so  were  the  forms  of  dis- 
course. 

The  use  of  Scripture  in  the  sermons  is  much  as  we 
found  it  in  the  preceding  ages.  How  could  there  be  im- 
provement upon  the  past  with  such  wholesale  borrowing 
from  the  past  ?  The  pericope,  or  reading  for  the  day,  often 
furnishes  the  basis  for  the  sermon.  Sometimes  another 
text  is  taken  and  the  pericope  is  handled  in  the  discourse ; 
sometimes  no  text  is  taken;  and  sometimes  sayings  of 
the  Fathers,  or  even  passages  from  the  liturgy,  are  used 
as  texts.  In  the  sermons  there  lis  much  quotation  of  Scrip- 
ture, but  it  is  often  inexact,  and  oftener  still  misinterpreted 

1  For  full  and  critical  discussions  of  these  see  Cruel,  S.  244  ff., 
and  Linsenmayer,  S.  85  ff.  2Op.  cit.,  chap.  II. 

8 1.  e.,  his  famous  Dialogues  on  Eloquence,  rjth  century. 
4  Bd.  II.,  sec.  I,  2. 


A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  misapplied.  The  interpretation  is  of  course  still  alle- 
gorical, if  possible  even  more  absurd  than  in  former 
times.  Centuries  must  pass  before  the  pulpit  could  be 
delivered — and  even  yet  is  not  wholly  delivered ! — from 
bondage  to  this  ancient  and  intrenched  abuse  of  Scripture. 
This  was  to  be  expected  in  the  traditional  homilies,  but 
even  original  and  powerful  men  like  Bernard  are  not  free 
from  it.  Ambrose  and  Augustine  had  got  it  from  the 
Greek  Alexandrian  school,  and  the  Roman  clergy  for 
centuries  followed  and  carried  to  extremes  the  methods 
of  these  and  other  revered  teachers  of  the  ancient  church. 
For  example,  Samson,  who  rose  in  the  night  and  carried 
off  the  gates  of  Gaza,  was  a  type  of  our  Lord,  who  rose 
from  the  grave  and  triumphed  over  death.  Gideon's  fleece 
was  a  prefiguration  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Thus :  The  fleece 
was  wet,  and  all  the  earth  was  dry ;  before  our  Lord's  birth 
and  during  his  infancy  Mary  alone  had  the  treasure  and 
all  the  earth  had  him  not :  then  the  fleece  was  dry  and  all 
the  earth  was  wet;  in  his  manhood  and  death  Mary  was 
bereft,  but  all  the  earth  had  the  Saviour.1  One  of  the 
preachers  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  "  he  who  does  not 
understand  the  Holy  Scripture  and  the  deep  sense  of  it 
otherwise  than  according  to  the  words  which  are  there 
written,  to  him  it  tastes  no  better  than  if  he  chews  and 
eats  unthreshed  and  unground  corn."  2 

On  the  whole,  with  regard  to  the  use  of  Scripture,  the 
Catholic  critics,3  while  admitting  faults  of  interpretation, 
are  far  more  lenient  toward  the  mediaeval  use,  or  rather 
misuse;  of  Scripture  than  are  the  Protestant  writers.  For 
the  latter  point  of  view  Albert  4  very  well  sums  up  the 
case  as  follows :  Theoretically  the  Bible  was  recognized 
as  the  source  and  foundation  of  preaching.  But  the  fol- 
lowing great  errors  show  that  in  reality  it  had  less  influ- 
ence than  in  appearance :  ( I )  The  use  of  extra-biblical 
material  as  Biblical,  that  is,  the  Fathers  of  the  church  and 
legends;  (2)  Gross  and  wilful  errors  of  interpretation 
and  application;  (3)  Extreme  use  of  allegory,  even  to 
the  point  of  teaching  things  contrary  to  Scripture;  (4) 
Frequent  lack  of  any  text  at  all. 

In  general  the  doctrinal  and  moral  teachings  of  the 

1  Albert,  sec.  3.  *Id.,  sec.  4. 

*  As  Linsenmayer  and  Bourgain.  *  Op.  cit.,  sec.  4. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,    OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     19 1 

twelfth  century  preachers  were,  from  the  Catholic  stand- 
point, Christian  and  sound ;  and  with  much  of  the  teach- 
ing Protestants  find  themselves  gladly  in  accord.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is,  of  course,  much,  both  in  prin- 
ciple and  detail,  which  from  a  true  Biblical  standpoint 
must  be  regarded  as  erroneous  and  hurtful. 

We  have  just  seen  that  ostensibly  the  Bible  was  ac- 
cepted as  the  source  of  teaching,  but  that  in  many  ways  it 
was  departed  from  or  misapplied.  Also  the  great  central 
Christian  doctrines  were  proclaimed  and  urged,  but  in 
many  points  they  were  misunderstood,  obscured,  per- 
verted. Thus  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  accepted, 
but  often  there  was  little  if  any  distinction  made  between 
the  Persons  of  the  Godhead.1  Christ  is  presented  as  truly 
divine,  and  as  the  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour;  but 
often  his  glory  is  obscured  by  dwelling  on  that  of  Mary 
and  the  saints,  and  his  atoning  work  is  overshadowed  by 
wrong  teaching  as  to  the  merit  of  works  and  the  interces- 
sion of  human  and  glorified  mediators.  The  sinfulness  of 
man  and  his  need  of  repentance  and  faith  in  order  to  be 
saved  were  insisted  upon,  but  repentance  too  easily  be- 
came outward  penances,  and  faith  a  mere  acceptance 
of  the  church  creed.  The  future  life  was  taught  in  both 
its  phases  of  punishment  and  bliss,  but  this  was  mingled 
with  unscriptural  teachings  as  to  purgatory,  and  with 
other  more  or  less  harmful  errors.  One  of  the  curious 
teachings,  which  came  indeed  probably  from  a  hint  of 
Augustine's,  but  was  much  insisted  on  and  used  in  this 
time,  was  that  God's  purpose  in  the  creation  and  then  in 
the  redemption  of  man  was  to  fill  up  the  gap  which  had 
been  made  in  the  heavenly  hosts  by  the  fall  of  the  angels. 
Much  attention  is  paid  to  the  angels,  and  also  to  the 
reality  of  Satan  and  his  aids.  Perhaps  the  greatest  error, 
which  the  Catholic  writers  praise  as  a  glorious  truth,  em- 
phasized by  these  sermons,  is  the  adoration  of  the  Virgin. 
The  extravagances  of  the  preceding  period  2  had  become 
the  settled  doctrines  of  the  twelfth  century.  In  one  of 
these  homilies  Mary  is  represented  as  the  fishing  line  and 
Christ  as  the  hook  and  the  bait.  The  hook  represents  the 
divinity  whereby  he  strangles  the  devil,  the  bait  represents 
the  humanity  whereby  he  attracts  and  saves  us!  Such 
stuff  as  this  is,  alas !  only  too  common. 

1  Albert,  ib.,  sec.  5.  *  See  above. 


IQ2  A   HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

Excepting  the  errors  as  to  penance  and  merits  and  re- 
lated details,  the  moral  teaching  of  the  sermons  is  usually 
satisfactory — Biblical,  Christian,  strong.  Sins  and  vir- 
tues are  strongly  depicted  and  vividly  portrayed  in  their 
contrasted  natures,  effects  and  recompenses.  Vice  is  not 
glozed  over  nor  weakly  denounced,  wherever  found  in 
nobility,  clergy,  or  people.  And  so,  making  all  necessary 
allowances  and  subtractions  for  errors,  perversions  and 
faults  of  every  kind,  the  sum  of  our  findings  as  to  the  doc- 
trinal contents  of  these  sermons  would  be  that,  upon  the 
whole,  the  great  essentials  of  Christian  faith  and  life  are 
presented  in  them;  and  that  he  who  would  intelligently 
and  sincerely  take  their  teachings  to  heart  would  find  the 
Lord  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  and  heaven  as  his  eternal 
home. 

As  to  the  times  and  subjects  of  preaching,  the  latter 
were  often  determined  by  the  former,  so  that  sermons 
on  the  regular  days  of  the  church  year — Sundays  and 
feast  days — were  called  sermones  de  temporibus;  and 
those  in  commemoration  of  the  saints  were  called  ser- 
mones de  sanctis.  Besides  these  there  were  special  occa- 
sions, such  as  dedications,  meetings,  funerals,  and  the  like. 
Within  these  general  limits,  of  course,  the  particular  sub- 
jects of  the  sermons  would  be  determined  by  the  nature 
of  the  occasion,  the  lesson  for  the  day,  the  choice  of  the 
preacher,  and  so  on.  The  hour  by  preference  was  early 
in  the  forenoon — apparently  sometimes  preceding,  some- 
times following  the  celebration  of  the  mass.  But  other 
hours  were  also  sometimes  used,  according  to  circum- 
stances. The  place  of  preaching  was  of  course  generally 
the  church  or  the  cloister  chapelj  but  the  popular  preach- 
ers often  addressed  the  crowds  in  the  open  air  in  town 
and  country.  The  audiences  varied  both  in  character  and 
size  with  circumstances — whether  in  church  or  monastery 
— whether  a  special  or  ordinary  occasion — whether  a 
popular  or  dull  preacher — as  always!  Audiences  were 
not  always  very  orderly.  Preachers  complain  of  inatten- 
tion, going  out,  sleepiness  and  the  like,  in  well  understood 
fashion.  Bourgain  tells  of  one  preacher  who  seems  to 
have  had  a  drowsy  audience,  and  he  quietly  remarks, 
"  That  sleeping  man  over  there  in  the  corner  is  going  to 
miss  the  great  secret  I  have  to  tell,  if  he  doesn't  wake  up." 


THE    CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,    OR   SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      193 

It  had  the  desired  effect.  Men  and  women  usually  sat 
apart.  There  seems  to  have  been  difference  of  custom  in 
regard  to  posture.  Some  of  the  references  in  the  sermons 
plainly  indicate  that  the  people  were  standing  up,  others 
(as  in  the  case  of  sleepiness  and  other  indications)  quite 
as  plainly  show  that  the  people  were  sitting  or  reclining. 
So  that  there  was  no  uniformity  in  this  matter,  it  probably 
varied  with  time,  place  and  circumstances.  The  audiences 
were  more  free  and  easy  than  now,  more  like  a  popular 
assembly.  They  often  expressed  approval  or  disapproval. 
Even  so  mighty  a  man  as  Bernard  alludes  in  one  of  his 
sermons  —  perhaps  more  —  to  this,  saying  in  effect,  "  I 
see  by  the  way  you  shake  your  heads  and  whisper  that 
what  I  am  saying  does  not  please  you  ;  but  it  is  true,"  and 
so  on.  The  preacher  was  often  confidential  and  conver- 
sational with  his  audience,  introducing  dialogue,  homely 
illustration,  humor,  and  sometimes  even  undignified,  not 
to  say  irreverent  drollery.  The  fresh  popular  preaching 
of  the  twelfth  century  had  not  yet  got  on  stilts.  Of  course 
there  were  differences  between  individuals  in  this  as  in 
other  regards.  The  mode  of  delivery  of  sermons  was 
usually  that  of  free  speech  after  more  or  less  of  prepara- 
tion; sometimes  the  homilies  were  learned  by  heart  and 
recited  ;  and  there  are  some  indications  that  sermons  were 
occasionally  read  from  manuscript  —  possibly  not  always 
the  preacher's  own  !  1 

Before  concluding  our  survey  of  the  preaching  of  the 
twelfth  century  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  specimen  in  illus- 
tration of  some  of  the  points  hitherto  presented.  It  is 
taken  from  Morris'  Old  English  Homilies  of  the  Twelfth 
Century  2  as  translated  by  him  from  the  Saxon,  the  sub- 
ject being  the  Nativity  of  Our  Lord,  and  runs  thus: 
"  Natus  est  nobis  hodie  Salvator  qui  est  Christus  in 
civitate  David.3  Good  tidings  and  pleasant  to  hear  the  lord 
St.  Luke  tells  us  in  the  holy  gospel,  and  saith  that  an  holy 
messenger  brought  them  from  heaven  to  the  land  of 
Jerusalem,  and  told  them  to  the  shepherds  who  were 


de  la  Marche,  Pars  II.,  chap.  V.  "P.  30. 

1  It  was  usual  in  the  yarnacular  sermons  to  retain  the  Latin 
in  announcing  the  text,  in  quoting  Scripture  and  other  sayings, 
though  nearly  always  the  Latin  was  either  translated  or  para- 
phrased. 


1 94  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

watching  over  their  cattle  beside  the  city  of  Bethlehem. 
Listen  now  and  attend  how  he  told  the  tidings  word  by 
word.  .  .  ."  The  author  goes  on  to  explain  how  great 
the  joy  was,  and  proceeds :  "  These  words  the  angel 
said  because  that  man  should  fill  up  the  angels'  seat 
(which  had  been  forfeited  when  Lucifer  and  his  company 
fell  out  thereof),  and  not  on  account  of  angels'  sickness, 
who  have  eternal  health ;  but  for  man's  sickness,  who  are 
all  sick,  and  have  all  been  so  since  affliction  came  upon 
our  first  father  Adam,  as  our  Lord  saith  in  the  holy 
gospel :  Homo  quid-am  descendebat  ab  Jerusalem  in 
Jericho  et  incidit  in  latrones,  etc.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
saith  that  a  man  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho 
and  came  upon  thieves,  and  they  spoiled  him  of  all  his 
rich  garments  and  wounded  him  very  sorely,  and  left  him 
scarcely  alive.  This  is  said  of  Adam,  Qui  descendit  a 
beatitudine  caeli  in  defectus  hujus  mundi.1  It  was  Adam 
that  went  out  from  the  perfect  bliss  of  paradise  into  the 
wretched  state  of  this  world,  and  led  after  him  then  nigh 
all  his  offspring."  The  preacher  proceeds  to  explain  that 
the  thieves  were  the  devils  who  robbed  man  of  the  three 
garments  of  grace,  immortality  and  innocence,  and  in- 
flicted on  him  wounds,  that  is  manifold  sins.  So  God 
punished  him  for  these  sins,  and  sent  many  sorrows 
upon  all.  Then  he  goes  on :  "  And  in  such  sickness  they 
longed  eagerly  for  our  Saviour ;  and  he  came,  thanked  be 
he,  to  heal  them  of  their  sin  wounds  and  to  clothe  them  in 
those  honorable  garments  which  the  devil  had  taken  from 
our  forefather  Adam."  He  sent  messengers  to  announce 
his  coming — patriarchs,  prophets,  angels,  and  now  this 
angel.  Not  to  the  great  of  earth,  but  to  these  shepherds. 
— "  Therefore  I  will  tell  you  (take  heed  thereto  and  under- 
stand it)  what  the  herdsmen,  and  what  the  nightwatches, 
and  what  the  cattle  betoken ;  and  first  of  all  what  the  wild 
beast  denotes." — Quotes  Peter's  saying  about  our  adver- 
sary the  devil,  comments  on  it,  and  proceeds. — "  The 
flocks  which  this  beast  worrieth  are  sheep,  and  oxen,  and 
goats,  and  swine." — Shows  how  men  fall  into  each  of  these 
classes,  and  goes  on. — "  Some  men  lead  a  pure  life  and 
neither  do  nor  say  anything  unpleasant  to  their  fellowmen, 
but  love  God  and  go  each  day  to  church  as  sheep  to  the 
1  Probably  the  words  of  the  Latin  homily  or  of  a  church  writer^ 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     19$ 

fold,  and  do  gladly  their  duty  to  the  church  and  give  alms 
to  poor  men,  and  are  called  sheepish  men." — The  oxen 
likewise  signify  the  good  "  who  will  do  nothing  wrong, 
but  labor  with  the  earth  and  till  much  for  other  men's 
behoof,  and  these  are  called  oxish  [or  neatish]  men.  Of 
these  sheepish  and  oxish  men  speaketh  the  prophet  thus, 
Subjecisti  sub  pedibus  ejus  oves  et  boves,  that  is  to  say 
the  sheepish  and  the  neatish  men  are  in  bondage  to 
Christ." x  The  goatish  men,  our  preacher  at  some  length 
explains,  are  the  lascivious  who  live  in  their  evil  ways, 
reek  of  their  sins,  and  will  be  punished  in  hell.  The 
swinish  men  are  those  who  "  pass  their  lives  in  eating  and 
drinking  as  swine,  which  foul  themselves  and  root  up  and 
sniff  ever  foully  and  much  enjoy  foul  things,  and  when 
they  are  full  they  go  to  the  foul  mire  and  therein  wallow 

,  and  therefore  they  are  called  swinish  men.    And 

in  them  the  devil  dwelleth  by  the  leave  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  holy  gospel  saith." — Quotes  the  passage  in 
Latin  and  goes  on,  "  Our  Lord  drove  many  devils  to- 
gether out  of  a  man  who  was  out  of  his  wits,  and  thus 
healed  him,  and  the  devils  entreated  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
to  send  them  into  a  flock  of  swine,  and  he  did  so;  and 
the  swine  ran,  as  the  devils  drove  them,  into  the  sea  and 
drowned  themselves.  So  giveth  our  Lord  leave  to  the 
devil  to  be  in  the  swinish  men  of  whom  I  have  before 
spoken,  and  to  dwell  in  them  and  to  drown  them  and  to 
bring  them  out  of  their  wits  and  to  drive  them  from  one 
wrong  to  another,  from  a  little  vice  to  a  great  one,  from 
sin  to  sin,  from  evil  to  evil,  and  lastly  he  drowneth 
them  in  shameful  death  and  leadeth  them  with  him  to 
hell." 

The  shepherds,  of  course,  represent  "  the  teachers  of 
holy  church  which  pasture  their  flocks  on  sweet  pastures 
which  are  the  good  words  of  Holy  Book."  The  preacher 
describes  and  condemns  the  bad  shepherds,  and  then 
speaks  of  the  good.  These  keep  watch  during  the  night, 
that  is  this  life. — "  And  this  life  in  which  we  live  is  com- 
pared to  night  because  it  is  so  dark  through  our  horrible 
sins.  In  this  night  there  are  four  night-watches:  before 
evening,  which  belongeth  to  children;  midnight,  which 
belongeth  to  youth ;  cockcrow,  which  belongeth  to  grown 
1  Literally,  "are  in  thrallship  to  Christ," 


196  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

men ;  morning-time  to  old  men.  These  herdsmen  that  are 
teachers,  as  bishops  and  priests,  watch  before  evening; 
then  are  the  children  well  brought  up.  At  midnight  he 
watcheth,  when  he  taketh  away  the  vices  of  youth  and 
teacheth  them  the  good.  At  cockcrow  he  watcheth,  when 
he  turneth  the  full-grown  men  to  God's  service.  In  the 
morning  he  watcheth,  when  he  turneth  old  men  to  the  bliss 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." — Then  with  an  application  to 
his  hearers,  and  a  reference  to  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  the  homily  concludes. 

3.    PREACHERS  OF  THE  TWELFTH  CENTURY 

The  number  of  preachers  in  the  twelfth  century  seems 
to  have  been  relatively  greater  than  ever  before.  Besides 
all  the  orders  of  clergy  there  were  many  unauthorized 
preachers — especially  among  the  so-called  heretics.  All 
these  men  of  course  differed  widely  among  themselves  in 
character,  all  the  way  from  the  earnest  and  sincere  down 
to  the  false  and  vicious ;  in  talents  and  culture,  from  the 
few  of  exceptional  ability  down  to  the  mediocre  and  the 
strangely  ignorant ;  in  modes  of  thought  and  life,  from  the 
great  prelate  busy  with  worldly  affairs  to  the  ascetic 
hermit  who  had  fled  the  world ;  from  the  absorbed  scholar 
to  the  rough  and  ready  popular  preacher.  Classification 
of  so  varied  a  body  of  men  is  difficult,  no  matter  what 
basis  we  take.  The  grouping  adopted  for  the  last  period 
will  still  be  found  serviceable — parochial,  cloistral,  and 
missionary  or  popular.  In  the  thirteenth  century  we  shall 
find  it  possible  to  classify  the  preachers  with  some  degree 
of  accuracy  according  to  their  mode  of  thinking  and 
working,  into  scholastic,  popular,  and  mystic ;  and  tokens 
of  this  distinction  are  already  at  hand  in  the  twelfth 
century.  Thus,  for  example,  Peter  Lombard  is  scholastic, 
Fulco  of  Neuilly  is  popular,  and  Hugo  of  St.  Victor  is 
mystic;  while  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  combined  in  himself 
the  mystic  and  popular  elements,  with  traces  of  the  schol- 
astic. If  we  group  the  preachers  simply  by  nationality 
our  difficulties  are  not  removed;  for  in  many  cases  it  is 
hard  to  say  to  what  nation  a  man  properly  belongs.  Often 
he  was  born  in  one  country,  was  educated  in  another, 
worked  and  died  in  a  third.  As  for  languages  all  the 
educated  knew  and  used  Latin,  and  several  of  them  spoke 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     197 

more  than  one  of  the  dialects.  Yet,  without  being  very 
exact,  we  may  consider  them  according  to  countries ;  and 
since  we  find  that  of  the  four  leading  countries  of  Europe 
France  was  very  far  in  advance  in  the  number  and  quality 
of  her  preachers,  we  shall  briefly  discuss  the  others  first, 
reserving  the  French  preachers  for  more  extended  notice. 

In  Italy,  as  in  the  other  European  countries,  the  num- 
ber of  preachers  in  this  period  was  large,  and  many 
sermons  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  Latin  language.1 
There  was  also  no  doubt  preaching  in  Italian,  as  both 
Marenco  and  Zanotto,  independently  of  each  other,  show.2 
The  latter  scholar  3  describes  the  period  as  one  "  in  which 
the  new  art  [i.e.,  new  mode  of  preaching]  grew  up, 
rough  and  without  monuments  of  high  value,  developing 
itself  under  the  dominion  of  the  scholastic  method  and  the 
Latin  language."  There  are  few  Italian  preachers  of  this 
age  whom  it  would  be  profitable  to  study;  but  there  are 
three  who  for  different  reasons  stand  apart  from  the 
commonplace  crowd,  and  though  few,  if  any,  homiletical 
remains  are  preserved  from  them,  they  yet  influenced  the 
course  of  thought  and  of  preaching  in  such  ways  as  to 
claim  some  notice  here. 

Near  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  in  a  little  town 
of  Lombardy,  was  born,  of  what  parentage  is  unknown, 
a  boy  who  was  named  Peter,4  and  later  called  from  his 
native  region,  the  "  Lombard."  His  talents  gained  the 
notice  of  a  benefactor  who  provided  for  his  education  at 
Bologna.  Thence  he  went  to  France,  with  a  letter  of 
recommendation  to  the  great  Bernard,  who  aided  him  in 
attending  school  first  at  Rheims,  and  then  at  Paris  in  the 
famous  abbey  of  St.  Victor.  His  progress  was  great, 
and  he  was  made  bishop  of  Paris  in  1159,  but  resigned 
the  next  year.  He  was  the  greatest  teacher  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  Scholastic  philosophy  in  his  time.  His 
famous  treatise,  "  Sentences,"  exercised  a  profound  in- 
fluence on  his  own  and  subsequent  times.  Bourgain 
briefly  criticises  him  as  "  celebrated  theologian,  mediocre 

1  See  Marenco,  op.  cit.,  cap.  I. ;  and  F.  Zanotto,  Storia  della 
Predicazione  nei  Secoli  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  cap.  I. 

2  Ibb.  s  P.  7. 

*  Works  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  it.  191,  192;  and  notices  of  his 
life  in  various  authorities,  especially  Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirchen- 
lexicon,  Bd.  9,  S.  1916  ff. 


198  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

preacher."  But  his  influence  on  thought  and  on  preach- 
ing entitles  him  at  least  to  this  short  notice. 

Also  from  northern  Italy  and  contemporary  with  Peter, 
was  Arnold  of  Brescia  (d.  H55).1  He,  too,  as  a  young 
man,  was  attracted  to  Paris  by  the  fame  of  its  teachers; 
and  there  he  became  an  admirer  and  friend  of  Abelard, 
who  influenced  him  profoundly.  Returning  to  Brescia, 
and  being  now  a  priest  and  preacher,  he  attacked  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  church,  and  maintained  that  it  should 
free  itself  from  political  and  other  worldly  entanglements. 
Banished  from  home  he  spent  some  years  in  France, 
Switzerland  and  Bohemia.  Later  he  was  allowed  to  be  at 
Rome,  but  attracting  followers,  and  encouraging  a  revolt 
with  the  idea  of  establishing  a  republic,  he  was  taken  and 
executed  in  1155.  No  sermons  remain,  but  his  powerful 
eloquence  is  admitted  by  foes  and  admired  by  friends; 
and  its  monument  is  in  its  effects  and  in  the  fact  that  even 
to  this  day  in  Italy  his  name  is  dear  to  lovers  of  liberty. 
Apart  from  his  political  influence  his  preaching  against 
Romish  evils  was  moving  and  powerful. 

A  very  notable  man  in  his  day,  and  still  more  in  his 
subsequent  influence,  was  Joachim  (Gioacchino)  (d. 
1202),  abbot  of  Floris  in  Calabria.2  He  was  born  in 
Sicily  not  earlier  than  1130.  After  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
Holy  Land  he  became  head  of  a  monastery  of  the  Cister- 
cian order  in  Italy,  and  later  was  permitted  to  establish 
a  new  abbey  at  Floris  (Fiore),  regulated  by  very  strict 
principles  and  earnestly  devoted  to  flight  from  the  world 
and  to  study.  He  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  emperor  Henry 
VI.,  and  of  the  empress  Constance,  and  was  during  his 
life  to  all  appearance  on  good  terms  with  the  popes, 
though  later  some  of  his  writings  were  condemned.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  personal  influence  and  probably  of 
eloquence.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  preached  or  taught 

1  The  church    histories   and   encyclopedias    usually  give   good 
accounts  of  Arnold.     The  German  historian,  Giesebrecht,  has  in 
modern  times  given  him  great  fame,  and  there  is  a  long  account 
of  his  controversy  with  Bernard  in  Neander's  Heilige  Bernhard, 
S.  222  ff. 

2  Besides  the  church  histories,  etc.,  Sabatier's  Life  of  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi,  p.  46  ff  (Am.  ed.)  ;  and  a  critical  article  by  E.  Schott 
in  Brieger  und  Bess,  Zeitsphrift  fur  Kirchcngcschichte,  Jahrgang 
1901,  S.  343  ff. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     IQQ 

much  outside  of  his  cloister,  but  through  his  monks  and 
his  writings  he  came  to  have  decisive  influence  upon  the 
course  of  thought  and  of  preaching.  His  significance 
(dimly  foreshadowing  Savonarola  three  centuries  later) 
was  that  of  prophet  and  reformer.  Schott 1  thinks  that 
his  prophetic  scheme  was  tampered  with  by  his  pupils, 
and  we  cannot  be  sure  that  all  which  purports  to  be  his  is 
authentic.  "  The  Everlasting  Gospel "  is  the  phrase 
chosen  to  designate  his  scheme,  which  divides  history 
into  three  great  eras  corresponding  to  the  Persons  of  the 
Trinity  and  to  the  three  greatest  apostles:  That  of  the 
Father,  represented  by  Peter,  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity; that  of  the  Son,  represented  by  Paul,  the  early 
history  of  Christianity ;  and  that  of  the  Spirit,  represented 
by  John,  the  contemporary  age,  toward  the  end  of  the 
world.  While  he  believed  in  the  Catholic  Church  he  at- 
tacked sharply  its  corruptions.  He  mightily  stirred  the 
better  spirits  of  his  age  and  place,  and  the  effects  of  his 
work  were  among  the  influences  which  shaped  the  pur- 
poses and  character  of  the  young  Francis  of  Assisi.2 

Germany,  too,  was  not  without  its  representatives. 
We  have  seen  that  the  collections  of  homilies  among  the 
Germans,  whether  in  Latin  or  the  vernacular,  are  almost 
entirely  anonymous.  Yet  in  some  cases  the  name  of  the 
author,  or  compiler  rather,  is  given ;  and  of  these  three — 
two  in  Latin  and  one  in  German — deserve  notice. 

One  of  these  goes  under  the  name  of  Honorius 
Scholasticus  (d.  c.  1150),  sometimes  also  called  Augusto- 
dunensis.  It  is  not  perfectly  clear  that  Honorius  was  a 
German,  as  he  lived  long  in  France,  but  the  probabilities 
are  that  he  was.3  His  life  is  wrapped  in  obscurity.  But 
he  seems  to  have  been  born  in  Germany  near  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twelfth  century  and  to  have  lived  and  taught 
long  in  an  abbey  at  Autun  (Augustodunum)  in  France, 
whence  he  returned  to  another  cloister  in  his  native  land, 
and  died  near  the  middle  of  the  century.  He  was  a  very 
prolific  writer  on  a  number  of  theological  subjects,4  and 
his  writings  were  highly  prized  especially  in  south  Ger- 
many.5 It  is,  however,  as  a  preacher  and  compiler  of 
sermons  that  he  concerns  us. 

1  Op.  cit.  2  Sabatier,  ad  loc. 

*  Linsenmayer,  S.  194,  and  note ;  Cruel,  S.  129  ff. 

4  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  172.  6  Linsenmayer,  ad.  loc. 


200  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

His  collection  *  is  called  Speculum  Ecclesicc,  "  Mirror 
of  the  Church ;  "  and  the  story  of  its  origin  and  purposes 
is  given  in  the  preface.  According  to  this  the  brethren 
of  his  order  addressed  to  him  an  urgent  request  to  pub- 
lish for  the  benefit  of  a  larger  circle  the  discourses  which 
he  had,  so  greatly  to  their  profit,  delivered  in  the  convent. 
Honorius  replies  that  (l  the  most  skillful  painters,  Am- 
brose, Augustine,  Jerome,  Gregory,  and  very  many  others, 
had  beautifully  decorated  the  house  with  a  wonderful, 
heavenly  and  varied  painting ;  "  but  as  they  were  perhaps 
in  some  measure  beyond  comprehension,  or  extracts  from 
them  had  become  through  frequent  use  somewhat  trite, 
he  would  respond  to  the  request  of  his  brethren  and  put 
forth  this  little  "  tablet "  which  he  had  painted,  unworthy 
indeed  to  be  compared  with  the  great  works  of  the 
masters,  but  nevertheless  new  and  likely  to  be  of  some  help 
to  those  who  should  use  it.  He  calls  it  the  "  Mirror  of 
the  Church,"  which  "  all  priests  may  hang  up  before  the 
eyes  of  the  church,  that  the  Bride  of  Christ  by  it  may  see 
what  in  her  still  is  displeasing  to  her  Bridegroom,  and 
may  conform  her  ways  and  acts  to  his  image."  Then 
he  gives  a  set  of  instructions  for  conducting  worship,  and 
says,  "  Having  then  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  re- 
ceived inwardly  the  word  of  God  in  his  name  thus 
humbly  begin : "  Then  follows  the  first  sermon,  on  the 
Nativity  of  our  Lord.  Near  the  end,  having  made  a  good 
stopping  place,  he  gives  this  hint  to  the  preacher :  "  Here 
make  an  end  if  you  wish;  but  if  time  permits  add  the 
following  " — and  gives  some  more.  Instructions  like  this 
abound  throughout  the  sermons.  In  one  he  says  that 
if  it  is  very  cold,  or  very  hot,  "  or  any  other  impediment 
hinders,"  the  preacher  may  omit  certain  parts,  otherwise 
he  may  add  so  and  so.  In  another  he  says,  "  In  all  the 
sermons  you  ought  first  to  pronounce  the  verse  in  the 
Latin  tongue,  and  then  explain  in  the  common  tongue 
(patria  lingua)."  As  to  the  merits  of  the  sermons 
themselves  the  general  criticism  on  all  similar  collections 
is  applicable — except  that  these  have  a  certain  freshness 
in  the  compilation  and  show  a  trace  of  originality  here 
and  there  in  handling  the  materials.  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  striving  after  effect,  particularly  in  the  use  of  the 
1  Migne,  of.  cit.,  col.  813  ss. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     2OI 

rhymed  prose,  or  assonance,  then  so  popular.  It  is  prob- 
able that  this  was  done  in  some  measure  to  aid  the 
memory  of  the  preacher  as  well  as  for  rhetorical  effect. 
The  Speculum  was  much  used,  and  became  a  mine  from 
which  other  compilers  and  translators  liberally  helped 
themselves. 

Early  in  the  century,  but  after  Honorius,  a  certain 
Werner  (d.  1126),  of  Ellerbach,1  abbot  of  St.  Blasius 
in  the  Black  Forest,  published  a  collection  of  sermons 
which  he  called  Deflorationes  Patrum,  which,  being  inter- 
preted, signifies  "  Flowers  Plucked  from  the  Fathers." 
Not  only  from  many  others  but  very  freely  from  the 
Speculum  of  Honorius  does  our  worthy  Werner  gather 
his  flowers  without  being  at  all  concerned  to  tell  where 
he  had  been  on  his  plucking  expeditions.  Thus  in  his 
introduction  he  states  that  his  purpose  was  to  offer  a 
new  collection  of  discourses  for  the  use  of  preachers,  as 
the  old  ones  had  become  somewhat  stale,  and  the  people 
(the  poor  dear  people!)  needed  a  fresh  supply.  And 
even  this  idea  was  borrowed  from  Honorius !  Of  course 
it  goes  without  saying  that  the  "  Gathered  Flowers  "  are 
somewhat  faded  and  dried  up.  But,  as  Cruel  remarks, 
these  sermons,  as  well  as  those  of  the  "  Mirror  "  were 
for  several  reasons  above  the  reach  of  the  less  instructed 
clergy,  particularly  as  they  had  to  be  turned  into  the 
vernacular  when  given  to  the  people;  and  so  there  was 
evident  need  of  some  collections  in  the  native  tongue  and 
of  simpler  style.  This  want  was  met  by  the  production 
of  those  numerous  collections  in  German  which  have  al- 
ready been  mentioned.  These  were  partly  done  directly 
from  the  older  sources  and  partly  were  translations  and 
adaptations  from  the  Latin  collections.2  It  is  worth 
while  to  notice  here  only  that  one  which  bears  the  name 
of  its  author,  Conrad  the  Priest. 

In  the  last  decades  of  the  twelfth  century  a  certain 
priest  named  Conrad 3  lived  and  worked  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Lake  Constance.  He  published  a  collection 
of  sermons  in  the  old  German  dialect,  with  a  Latin  intro- 
duction in  which  he  states  the  purpose  of  the  book.  He 
— like  the  widow  with  her  mites — offers  his  little  con- 

1  Cruel,  S.  144  ff.  *  Linsenmayer,  S.  246. 

8  Linsenmayer,  SS.  247,  285  ff. ;  Albert  Bd.  II.,  S.  9,  et  passim. 


202  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

tribution  for  the  service  of  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  "  who 
love  Christ,  who  preach  Christ  and  not  themselves, 
especially  the  plebeian  and  popular  priests  and  those  to 
whom  perchance  abundance  of  books  is  wanting,  and 
who  more  often  with  blessed  Martha  have  been  anxious 
and  occupied  with  external  things,  and  on  this  account 
have  the  more  rarely  been  able  to  sit  with  blessed  Mary 
at  the  Lord's  feet,  that  is,  to  give  attention  to  sacred 
reading."  The  work  contains  a  full  set  of  sermons  for 
the  church  year  and  a  number  for  saints'  days,  all  in  the 
approved  style.  In  all  there  are  a  hundred  and  fifty-four 
of  these  sermons,  not  very  different  from  others  in  most 
respects,  but  easier  in  style  and  showing  the  author's 
gift  of  adapting  his  speech  to  the  common  people. 

Passing  by  France  for  the  present  and  coming  over 
to  the  England  *  of  the  twelfth  century  we  find  there  a 
state  of  things  in  regard  to  preaching  quite  like  that 
which  prevailed  in  Germany — a  number  of  collections  of 
homilies  in  the  vernacular,  but  few  preachers  of  note. 
We  have  seen  2  that  as  far  back  as  the  tenth  or  early 
eleventh  century  Aelfric  had  translated  homilies  into  the 
Saxon  English  of  the  time.  There  were  also  other  col- 
lections 3  earlier  than  the  twelfth  century ;  and  when  we 
reach  this  date  the  collections  become  abundant.  Un- 
happily the  homilies  are  both  dateless  and  nameless,  but 
they  are  shown  to  belong  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries.  Of  these  Morris  says : 4  "  None  of  them 
seem  to  be  copied — from  Aelfric's  treatises.  Most  of 
them  perhaps  were  originally  translated  from  Latin  homi- 
lies, though  some  few  have  the  appearance  of  original 
compositions.  Omitting  a  few  allusions  to  the  gluttony 
and  drunkenness  of  the  -period,  and  to  the  profligacy  of 
the  clergy,  and  the  rapacity  of  the  rich,  there  is  nothing 
that  throws  any  light  upon  the  social  condition  of  the 
twelfth  century.5  The  religious  instruction  given  in 

1  See  Morris,  Old  English  Homilies;  and  Cutts,  Parish  Priests 
and  their  People  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  England,  especially  chaps. 
VI.  and  XIV.  2  Above,  p.  170. 

*  Cutts,  p.  223;  Morris,  Vol.  I.,  Preface,  p.  xi,  and  Vol.  II.,  Intro- 
duction, p.  VII. 

*  Vol.  II.  (Twelfth  century),  Int.  pp.  ix,  x. 

*In  this  respect  they  are  quite  different  from  the  French  col- 
lections, as  Bourgain  and  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  have  shown. 


THE  CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,  OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     203 

these  homilies  is  of  a  very  simple  character;  and  all  the 
discourses,  while  not  without  interest,  possess  much 
quaintness  in  the  mode  in  which  the  Scriptures  were 
popularly  expounded."  In  general  tone,  doctrine,  and 
method  the  English  homilies  are  very  like  those  in  use 
elsewhere  in  Europe.  As  Cutts  has  pointed  out 1  the 
Norman  conquerors  did  not  disturb  the  parish  priests, 
and  yet  the  Conquest  opened  the  way  to  a  larger  influence 
from  the  Continent. 

Among  the  English  preachers  of  the  century  was  a 
certain  Ailred  (or  Ethelred),  of  Revesby  (c.  1 109-1 166).2 
He  was  born  of  good  family,  near  Durham,  about  1109, 
and  as  a  child  was  most  promising  in  mind  and  character. 
He  "  spent  his  youth  in  the  court  of  David,  King  of 
Scotland,  as  one  of  the  attendants  of  his  son  Henry,  and 
while  there  gave  a  remarkable  instance  of  his  sweetness 
of  character  by  forgiving  one  of  his  enemies  who  had 
slandered  him.  David  was  much  attached  to  him,  and 
would  have  made  him  a  bishop;  but  he  preferred  to  be- 
come a  monk,  and  entered  the  Cistercian  abbey  of 
Rievaulx  in  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire."  3  Later 
he  was  abbot  of  Revesby,  and  afterwards  of  Rievaulx. 
He  was  highly  esteemed  by  King  Henry  II.,  and  by  his 
contemporaries  generally.  He  did  some  successful  mis- 
sionary work  among  the  rude  Picts  of  Scotland,  was  a 
historical  writer  of  some  importance,  and  took  active 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  time.  He  suffered  from  ill 
health  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  but  bore  his  sufferings 
meekly,  and  kept  at  his  work  to  the  end.  Altogether 
he  appears  to  have  been  an  amiable,  earnest,  active  man. 
He  died  and  was  buried  at  Rievaulx  in  1166. 

He  left  numerous  historical  and  theological  writings, 
among  which  are  a  number  of  sermons.4  They  are  not 
remarkable,  being  in  the  fashion  of  the  age — such  as  has 
been  sufficiently  pointed  out.  He  was  so  taken  with  the 
allegorical  method  of  interpretation  and  so  fertile  in  find- 
ing the  spiritual  meanings  of  Scripture  that  he  could 
spin  out  a  number  of  them  from  one  word  as  a  text.5 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  84  ft. 

2  Rothe,  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  218  f;  Dictionary  of  National  Biog- 
raphy, Vol.  XVIII,  p.  33  f ;  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  195. 

8  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.,  ad  loc. 

*  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  195 ;  Rothe,  S.  219.         B  Rothe,  ad.  loc. 


204  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

A  very  different  man  from  Ailred  was  Peter  of  Blois 
(d.  c.  1200),  who  was  a  Frenchman,  but  claims  notice 
among  the  English  preachers  of  the  time,  for  reasons 
that  will  appear.  Born  at  or  near  Blois,  he  was  educated 
at  Tours,  at  Bologna  (where  he  studied  law),  and  at 
Paris.  He  lived  several  years  in  Sicily,  where  he  was 
tutor  to  a  royal  prince.  He  did  not  like  Sicily,  and 
though  offered  ecclesiastical  honors  there,  returned  to 
France,  where  he  taught  for  a  while  and  held  various 
church  appointments.  Some  time  during  this  period  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  English  king,  Henry  II.,  and 
under  his  patronage  came  later  to  England,  where  he 
filled  different  posts  in  the  church.  He  was  never  ap- 
pointed to  high  office,  and  seems  to  have  been  a  self- 
seeking,  quarrelsome  sort  of  man,  with  a  plenty  of  self- 
conceit,  but  possessed  of  learning  and  talents  that  made 
him  useful.  His  letters,  full  of  vanity  as  they  are,  have 
some  value  among  historical  sources  for  the  period ;  and 
his  other  writings  show  considerable  ability,  but  not  of  a 
very  high  order.  His  sermons  receive  commendation 
from  Bourgain,1  but  Rothe  2  says  that  the  six  short  ser- 
mons remaining  from  him  offer  nothing  of  interest, 
except  that  they  were  delivered  in  Saxon  English  and 
were  afterwards  written  out  in  Latin  by  the  author  him- 
self, who  confesses  that  they  were  "  quite  crudely  and 
insipidly  written."  Thus  they  hardly  represent  the  ser- 
mons as  delivered,  and  it  is  worth  noting  that  this 
Anglicized  Frenchman  preached  in  the  English  of  his 
time.  The  sermons,  as  we  have  them,  are  lacking  in  good 
arrangement,  and  are  full  of  digressions.  Altogether  the 
English  pulpit  has  but  a  mediocre  rank  in  the  twelfth 
century. 

As  in  other  respects,  so  in  preaching,  the  leading  place 
among  the  European  peoples  of  the  twelfth  century  was 
held  by  France.  We  are  greatly  indebted  to  the  labors 
of  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  and  Bourgain  for  a  vivid  por- 
traiture of  the  preaching  of  the  period.  These  scholars 
have  not  confined  themselves  to  the  printed  sources,  but 
have  given  the  world  the  benefit  of  their  studies  of  many 
old  French  manuscripts  of  that  age. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  consider  in  one  group  the  three 
1  P.  63.  •  S.  219. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE     205 

most  important  preachers  of  the  first  crusade.  Pope 
Urban  II.  (d.  1099)  was  a  Frenchman,  Odo  by  name, 
and  was  born  of  knightly  family  in  Chatillon  sur  Marne, 
probably  early  in  the  eleventh  century.  While  still  young 
he  became  a  monk  at  Clugny,  where  he  soon  adopted  the 
strenuous  ideas  of  Gregory  VII.  as  to  the  papacy.  His 
worth  and  talents  attracted  attention  and  he  was  rapidly 
promoted.  In  1078  he  was  made  a  cardinal  by  Gregory 
VII.,  and  on  the  death  of  Gregory's  immediate  successor 
Odo  was  made  pope,  taking  the  name  of  Urban  II.,  in 
March,  1088.  In  1095,  it  will  be  remembered,  he  assem- 
bled a  council  at  Clermont,  on  the  soil  of  his  native 
France,  to  consider  the  undertaking  of  the  first  crusade. 
Here  a  great  assembly  of  prelates  and  nobles  was  gath- 
ered, and  Urban  addressed  them  several  times  upon  the 
theme  that  lay  upon  his  heart.  One  day,  in  the  open  air 
(for  no  building  could  accommodate  the  throng),  he 
poured  forth  his  soul  in  one  of  the  most  effective  ad- 
dresses of  history.  There  is,  of  course,  no  exact  repro- 
duction of  this  famous  speech.  Several  reports  of  it 
were  made  x  and  have  been  preserved.  These  are  quite 
unlike  in  form,  but  much  the  same  in  contents.  The 
substance  of  the  report  of  it  by  William  of  Malmesbury  2 
is  this:  Christian  people  should  be  ashamed  to  let  un- 
believers possess  two-thirds  of  the  whole  world,  includ- 
ing the  Holy  Land,  which  they  were  desolating.  He 
promised  full  absolution  to  all  who  would  undertake  a 
holy  war  to  deliver  the  sacred  places  from  their  grasp. 
If  those  who  went  died  in  the  attempt  they  would  be  sure 
of  heaven,  if  they  succeeded  they  would  see  the  sepulchre 
of  the  Lord.  Why  should  they  fear  to  die?  Let  them 
go  forth  as  soldiers  of  the  cross !  The  speech  awakened 
wild  enthusiasm;  men  waved  their  swords  and  shouted, 
"  God  wills  it !  "  Thus  the  crusades  were  begun — under 
the  spell  of  a  timely  and  powerful  eloquence.  Of  Urban's 
sermons,  properly  speaking,  there  are  no  remains ; 3  but 
he  was  an  active  preacher  and  the  tradition  of  his  elo- 
quence is  well  sustained. 

1Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  151.  *  Op.  cit.,  col.  571  ss. 

8  Migne,  op.  cit.,  col.  563  ss,  gives  an  address  at  the  dedication 
of  a  church,  and  another  at  the  ordination  of  Ivo  as  bishop  of 
Chartres. 


206  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Peter  the  Hermit  (d.  IH5),1  according  to  the  more 
recent  opinions,  was  probably  sent  out  by  Urban  II.  soon 
after  the  Council  of  Clermont  to  arouse  the  people  in 
behalf  of  the  crusade.  It  is  now  doubted  whether  he  was 
in  Palestine  at  all  before  he  went  with  the  crusaders. 
But  it  appears  that  he  claimed  to  have  been  there  and 
to  have  seen  a  vision ;  or  this  may  have  been  a  later  in- 
vention to  embellish  the  stories  of  his  eloquence.  Accord- 
ing to  the  usual  accounts  Peter  was  born  at  or  near 
Amiens  early  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  surname,  the 
Hermit,  was  given  him  by  his  contemporaries  and  indi- 
cates that  he  lived  in  retirement.  But  Guibert  of  Nogent's 
description  of  his  eloquence  2  leads  us  to  infer  that  he  was 
a  popular  and  useful  preacher — coming  from  his  retire- 
ment to  preach  to  the  people — before  he  began  the  cru- 
sade preaching.  Guibert  says  that  he  never  knew  a  man 
to  be  held  in  such  high  esteem,  that  he  composed  quarrels, 
made  peace,  rescued  fallen  women,  was  loaded  with  pres- 
ents, and  regarded  as  a  saint  whose  word  was  an  oracle. 
When  he  took  up  the  crusade  preaching  his  work  had  a 
tremendous  effect.  He  stirred  the  people  of  all  classes, 
gathered  multitudes  to  his  own  standard,  and  without 
waiting  for  the  princes  and  military  leaders  led  the  hap- 
less crowd.  He  was  unfitted  for  leadership  and  could  not 
control  his  followers.  But  that  part  of  his  story  does 
not  belong  here.  He  preached  and  performed  priestly 
duties  for  the  crusaders,  but  returned  to  France  (prob- 
ably after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem)  and  became  monk 
and  prior  of  an  abbey  at  Huy,  where  he  died  in  1115. 

Along  with  Urban  and  Peter  should  be  named  Raoul 
the  Ardent  (Radulphus  Ardens,  d.  noi),3  who  was 
born  (date  uncertain)  near  Poitiers,  and  was  known  as 
a  parish  priest  in  that  region.  It  appears  that  he  went 
with  one  of  the  expeditions  of  the  first  crusade,  under 
William  of  Poitiers  and  Aquitaine,  and  that  he  died  in 
Palestine  about  noi.  This  is  about  all  that  has  come 
down  to  us  concerning  his  life ;  but  in  his  case  we  have 
a  group  of  more  than  thirty  sermons  remaining.  They 

1  See  Broadus,  Hist.  Pre.,  p.  95  f,  for  a  brief  notice  of  Peter's 
popular  eloquence,  and  for  critical  accounts  see  the  articles  in 
Herzog  and  in  Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirchenlexicon  (Catholic). 

*  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  156,  col.  704-5. 

'Bourgain,  p.  55;  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  155. 


THE  CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,  AGE     207 

show  that  he  deserved  his  surname  of  Ardent;  for  they 
are  earnest,  with  a  note  of  conviction  and  of  concern 
for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  hearers.  In  denouncing 
sin  he  spares  none — whether  princes,  clergy,  or  people — 
and  yet  he  mingles  with  his  warnings  a  tenderness  and 
charity  which  show  forth  a  true  soul.  In  style  he  is  often 
rough  and  in  bad  taste,  but  vigor  is  not  wanting ;  and  he 
exhibits  an  originality  in  refreshing  contrast  to  most  of 
the  sermons  of  the  age.  He  espoused  the  crusade  with 
all  his  ardor,  and  like  Peter  practised  what  he  preached 
by  going  himself. 

A  notable  prelate  in  the  early  twelfth  century  was  Ivo, 
bishop  of  Chartres  (d.  1116).  He  was  a  man  of  dis- 
tinction and  influence  in  his  day,  and  was  quite  diligent 
as  a  preacher.  Twenty-four  short  sermons  remain  from 
him.1  They  were  highly  esteemed,  and  one  of  them  is 
preserved  even  to  this  day  in  the  Roman  Breviary. 
Bourgain  says  of  him,  "  Without  being  eloquent  he  joined 
to  knowledge  a  vivid  imagination ;  his  method  is  neat ; 
he  does  not  embarrass  with  an  enumeration  of  texts, 
eschews  subtle  divisions,  slowness  and  lifeless  dialect." 

Another  famous  prelate  of  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury was  Hildebert  (d.  1134),  at  first  bishop  of  Mars, 
and  later  archbishop  of  Tours.  He  was  the  contemporary 
and  the  equal  of  great  men ;  but  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  especially  great  as  a  preacher  if  we  judge  by  his 
few  remaining  sermons;2  but  the  man  enjoyed  a  better 
reputation  than  these  sermons  indicate;  and  yet  in  them 
are  some  traces  of  real  worth,  as  the  critic  already  quoted 
says  that  they  are  "  dignified,  elevated,  paternal,  tempered 
by  the  sweet  authority  of  the  pontiff." 

Here  we  must  mention  the  celebrated  theologian,  Peter 
Abelard  (d.  1142).  For  Abelard,  too,  is  among  the 
prophets,  though  by  a  slender  title.  Famous  as  the  un- 
happy lover  of  Eloise  he  has  awakened  in  all  times  the 
interest  of  the  romantic;  favored  with  the  heresy-hating 
hostility  of  Bernard  he  has  claimed  the  sympathy  of  the 
liberal  minded ;  brilliant  as  a  lecturer,  he  had  the  admira- 
tion of  hundreds  of  students,  and  his  fame  endures ;  acute 
as  a  thinker,  he  has  a  secure  place  among  the  scholastic- 

1  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  162,  and  Bourgain,  pp.  32,  276,  296. 
"Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  171;  Bourgain,  p.  37  et  suiv. 


208  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

theologians  of  his  era;  but  all  in  all  the  man  does  not 
rank  among  the  highest,  by  virtue  either  of  character  or 
work.  As  a  preacher  he  is  remembered  by  thirty-four 
sermons,1  preached  probably  after  he  retired  to  the 
cloister,  and,  it  seems,  written  out  at  the  request  of  Eloise. 
They  are  not  great  as  sermons,  but  only  claim  mention 
because  of  the  author's  fame  in  other  directions. 

By  all  odds  the  most  prominent  figure  among  the 
French  preachers  of  the  twelfth  century  is  that  of  the 
famous  Cistercian  monk,  theologian,  mystic,  man  of  af- 
fairs, partisan,  crusade  evangelist,  and  popular  preacher, 
Bernard  (1091-1153),  abbot  of  Clairvaux,  and  saint  not 
only  by  canon  but  by  general  consent.2  Bernard  was 
born  at  Fontaines  near  Dijon,  third  son  of  the  brave 
knight  Tecelin  and  Aleth,  a  pious  lady  of  excellent  family. 
Though  she  died  while  Bernard  was  yet  a  boy  her  in- 
fluence over  him  was  holy  and  permanent,  and  so  she 
takes  a  worthy  place  among  those  noble  mothers  to  whom 
in  all  the  Christian  ages  some  distinguished  preachers 
have  owed  the  best  that  was  in  them.  The  lad  was  of 
weakly  frame  and  unfit  for  military  duty,  so  he  was 
early  destined  for  the  church  and  educated  with  that  in 
view.  For  a  short  time  during  his  school  days  he  seems 
to  have  tasted  a  bit  of  the  worldly  life  about  him ;  but 
the  memories  of  his  mother,  and  the  influence  of  a  lonely 
and  thoughtful  journey  speedily  recalled  him  to  higher 
things,  and  with  characteristic  firmness  and  devotion  he 
turned  his  back  upon  the  world.  It  is  quite  like  him 
that  he  induced  a  goodly  number  of  others  to  join  him 
in  this  renunciation,  his  lifelong  trait  of  personal  in- 
fluence thus  early  exhibiting  itself.  After  leading  a  re- 
tired life  for  a  while  he  and  his  companions  entered  the 
famous  monastery  of  Citeaux,  which  had  given  name  to 
the  Cistercian  order  of  monks.  The  abbey  was  just  then 

1  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  178,  col.  379  ss. 

3  Sources  and  authorities  for  Bernard  are  of  course  numerous. 
His  works  and  letters  are  given  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  tt.  182-185, 
with  much  valuable  editorial  matter  by  Mabillon  and  others.  He 
receives  ample  treatment  at  the  hands  of  Bourgain,  and  notice 
from  all  the  other  historians  and  critics  of  the  preaching  of  the 
period.  The  great  monograph  of  Neander  is  still  valuable,  and 
the  late  Dr.  R.  S.  Stprrs  has  done  American  readers  and  litera- 
ture a  noble  service  in  his  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     209 

not  very  flourishing,  but  the  entrance  of  this  fine  body 
of  about  thirty  young  men  under  the  lead  of  such  a 
spirit  as  Bernard  gave  it  new  life.  Soon  its  growth  was 
so  rapid  as  to  require  division  and  colonization.  One 
of  these  colonies  was  established  at  Clairvaux  (clara 
vallis,  vale  of  light),  and  Bernard  was  chosen  to  be  its 
abbot.  This  was  his  heart's  home  through  all  his  busy 
life,  and  with  it  his  name  is  forever  associated.  He  had 
later  in  his  career  frequent  invitations  to  other  places 
and  higher  preferment,  but  he  put  them  all  aside  and 
remained  simply  abbot  of  Clairvaux. 

He  practised  a  rigid  asceticism,  disciplined  his  monks 
with  a  strict  but  loving  care,  taught  them  and  preached 
to  them  with  all  fidelity,  received  with  sweet  cordiality 
the  visitors  who  sought  him  for  help  and  counsel  in  the 
spiritual  life,  and  was  in  all  essentials  according  to  the 
demands  of  the  age  a  model  monk  and  abbot. 

But  a  man  of  his  powers  could  not  be  hid  in  a  mon- 
astery. Soon  his  wonderful  preaching  began  to  attract 
crowds  to  Clairvaux,  and  his  capacity  for  affairs  marked 
him  as  fitted  for  severer  tasks  than  the  peaceful  direction 
of  a  cloister.  He  soon  became  the  most  notable  man  in 
the  church  in  France,  and  from  thence  his  influence  and 
activities  spread  through  Italy  and  Germany.  He  was 
especially  successful  in  healing  disputes,  and  was  the 
able  defender  of  Catholic  orthodoxy  alike  against  the 
scholastic  subtleties  of  Abelard  and  the  popular  evan- 
gelical views  of  Peter  of  Bruys  and  Henry  of  Lausanne. 
He  favored  and  helped  to  shape  the  foundation  of  the 
order  of  Knights  of  the  Temple.  Though  refusing  to  be 
the  head  of  his  own  order,  he  was  the  most  active  man 
in  promoting  its  rapid  and  wide  spread. 

On  the  death  of  Pope  Honorius  II.  in  1130  the  car- 
dinals were  divided  and  chose  different  men  for  the 
papacy.  Innocent  II. ,  the  choice  of  the  minority,  had  the 
weaker  title,  but  he  was  the  fitter  man.  Fearing  his 
rival's  stronger  party  he  fled  to  France  and  sought  pro- 
tection from  King  Louis  VI.  The  monarch  referred  the 
matter  to  the  bishops  of  the  realm,  and  they  held  an 
assembly  to  decide  which  pope  they  should  recognize. 
Bernard,  though  not  a  bishop,  was  called  in  and  asked 
to  present  his  views,  and  he  took  so  decided  ground  in 


210  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

favor  of  Innocent  and  urged  his  cause  with  such  eloquent 
persuasiveness  that  the  assembly  unanimously  decided 
to  recognize  Innocent  as  pope.  Bernard  visited  some 
of  the  principal  cities  of  Italy  in  the  interest  of  his  man, 
and  by  1138  his  efforts  were  so  successful  that  he  saw 
Innocent  generally  recognized  and  the  schism  healed. 
Now  he  turned  back  to  his  beloved  Clairvaux  to  rest  and 
teach  his  monks.  But  new  labors  and  burdens  were  in 
store  for  him.  Soon  came  his  strife  with  the  acute  and 
philosophic  Abelard,  whose  clever  lectures  were  unsettling 
the  orthodox  faith,  and  none  could  be  found  to  answer 
the  heretic  and  force  him  to  retract  so  well  as  Bernard. 
Then  came  the  troubles  at  Rome  about  Arnold  of  Brescia, 
and  Bernard  bore  an  active  part  on  the  papal  side  in 
this  controversy.  To  Bernard  too  fell  the  duty  of  oppos- 
ing the  work  of  the  evangelical  heretics,  Peter  and  Henry, 
in  the  south  of  France.  He  preached  among  the  people 
there  with  great  acceptance,  but  the  work  of  those  men 
was  too  well  done  to  be  overcome  even  by  the  eloquence 
of  a  Bernard.  Finally,  in  1146,  he  was  charged  by  the 
pope  with  the  duty  of  preaching  the  second  crusade,  and 
he  went  through  France,  Italy  and  Germany  on  this 
mission. 

In  Germany,  though  he  had  to  preach  by  an  interpreter, 
the  people  were  moved  to  tears  and  enthusiasm  by  his 
voice  and  manner,  while  he  spoke  himself,  before  the 
interpreter  could  translate  his  words.  Thousands  were 
induced  to  take  the  cross.  He  did  not  accompany  the 
crusaders — perhaps  because  he  was  physically  unfit  to 
contend  with  the  hardships  of  the  camp,  perhaps  because 
the  authorities  needed  him  at  home — and  the  failures  and 
disasters  which  befell  the  enterprise  bore  heavily  upon  his 
spirits.  Yet  he  went  on  preaching  and  teaching  all  he 
could  at  Clairvaux,  but  being  often  called  upon  for  those 
outer  tasks  from  which  he  shrank,  though  so  well  per- 
forming them,  and  ever  coming  back  to  refresh  his  soul 
among  his  brother  monks  in  studying  and  expounding 
the  word  of  God.  At  last,  worn  out  with  toil,  he  died 
and  was  buried  at  Clairvaux,  August  20,  1153. 

It  is  hard  to  put  into  a  few  words  a  fair  estimate  of 
this  great  and  many-sided  man.  The  faculties  of  his 
singularly  rich  nature  were  held  in  admirable  poise.  The 


THE    CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      211 

strong  and  vigorous  intellect  and  the  abounding  energy 
of  purpose  and  act  were  a  wholesome  offset  to  the  soft 
and  spiritual  mellowness  of  his  piety,  while  this  last,  like 
the  gentle  warmth  of  an  autumn  day,  suffused  the  other 
two,  keeping  thought  from  barren  and  cold  speculation, 
and  restraining  splendid  leadership  from  ambition  and 
arrogance.  The  English  writer,  Vaughan,  in  his  Hours 
with  the  Mystics,1  has  admirably  put  the  matter  thus: 
"  Against  the  self-indulgence  which  would  sacrifice  every 
active  external  obligation  to  a  life  of  contemplative  sloth, 
he  protested  all  his  days  by  word  and  example.  He  knew 
the  world  and  men ;  he  stood  with  his  fellows  in  the 
breach,  and  the  shock  of  conflict  spoiled  him  for  a 
dreamer.  The  distractions  over  which  he  expended  so 
much  complaint  were  his  best  friends.  They  made  him 
the  worse  monk,  and  by  so  much  the  better  man."  He 
has  been  compared  by  many  to  Augustine;  and  Bour- 
gain  2  draws  a  fine  parallel  between  Bernard  and  Pascal. 
He  was  not  equal  to  either  of  these  in  depth  of  intellect, 
but  the  mystical  trace  was  common  to  all,  and  the  neat 
and  terse  way  of  expressing  bright  and  soulful  things. 

Bernard  was  an  excellent  preacher.  He  is  one  of  the 
comparatively  few  whose  published  sermons  sustain 
traditional  reputation.  The  stories  of  his  eloquence  and 
its  wonderful  power  over  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men 
do  not  strike  us  as  overstrained  when  we  read,  with  all 
just  allowances,  the  discourses  which  remain  from  him. 
Doubtless  many  other  critics  would  agree  with  Broadus  3 
in  saying,  "  I  think  that  beyond  any  other  mediaeval 
preacher,  he  will  repay  the  student  of  the  present  day." 
A  large  number  of  his  discourses  are  preserved  to  us.* 
The  first  given  in  Migne's  edition  are  seven  on  the  Ad- 
vent, and  these  are  perhaps  most  often  read.  They  are 
characteristic ;  clear  in  thought  and  language,  sweet  and 
pious  in  spirit;  full  of  the  current  Catholic  adoration  of 
the  Virgin,  but  not  to  the  obscuration  of  the  Lord  whom 
he  praises  and  loves.  They  have  many  a  well-turned  and 
happy  phrase,  which  seems  to  come  with  perfect  ease  and 
naturalness  without  the  least  straining.  While  not 
severely  analytical  the  sermons  usually  have  clearly 

1  P.  143.  2  Pp.  92  et  suiv. 

3  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  100.  *  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  183. 


212  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

marked  divisions.  In  the  first  sermon  he  thus  indicates 
his  plan :  "  Do  you  therefore,  brethren,  to  whom  as  unto 
babes  God  reveals  things  that  are  hidden  from  the  wise 
and  prudent — consider  with  sedulous  thought,  and  dili- 
gently weigh  the  reason  of  this  Advent,  seeking,  namely, 
who  it  is  that  comes,  whence,  whither,  for  what  purpose, 
and  in  what  way."  He  discusses  these  points  in  the  order 
indicated,  but  when  he  comes  to  the  last,  "  in  what  way," 
he  postpones  that  for  next  time  as  being  "  worthy  of  a 
special  sermon,  especially  since  to-day's  sermon  has  gone 
on  at  length."  Following  the  sermons  on  the  Advent  are 
a  number  on  the  holy  seasons  (de  temporibus},  and  then 
a  course  of  125  on  various  subjects  (de  diversis),  and  the 
collection  concludes  with  eighty-six  on  the  Song  of  Solo- 
mon. These,  according  to  the  editor  in  Migne's  collec- 
tion, were  begun  in  1135  and  were  cut  short  by  the 
author's  lamented  death  in  1153.  He  was  thus  eighteen 
years  (of  course  at  intervals)  working  at  the  series,  and 
it  reaches  only  to  the  first  verse  of  the  third  chapter. 
The  first  sermon  treats  of  the  title — why  Song  of  All 
Songs? — because  it  is  an  allegory  of  the  love  between 
Christ  and  his  Bride,  the  Church.  Then  come  seven  dif- 
ferent sermons  on  the  first  verse,  "  Let  him  kiss  me  with 
the  kisses  of  his  mouth."  The  minute  allegorical  treat- 
ment of  every  phase  of  meaning  suggested  to  the  pious 
mystic  by  these  words  is  curious,  but  a  trifle  tedious.  Of 
course  the  interpretation  is  not  now  generally  accepted, 
and  the  long  drawn  series  is  somewhat  wearisome ;  but 
as  specimens  of  preaching  these  discourses  have  the 
merits  of  brevity,  clearness,  adaptation,  and  a  devout  and 
gracious  spirit.  To  feel  their  full  force  we  must  imagine 
ourselves  among  that  rapt  group  of  monks  at  Clairvaux 
listening  while  the  revered  master  opens  his  heart  in  these 
loving  sermons  that  breathe  out  his  yearnings  for  com- 
munion with  his  Lord.  We  shall  then  warm  toward  the 
preacher  and  appreciate  both  his  devout  feeling  and  his 
perfect  taste  as  he  says  in  his  opening  paragraph :  * 

1  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  183,  col.  787.  The  exquisite  original  defies 
translation  and  is  as  follows :  "  Revera  pauper  et  inops  pulso  ad 
eum  qui  aperit  et  nemo  claudit  super  sermonis  hujus  profundis- 
simo  sacramento.  Oculi  omnium  in  te  sperant,  Domine.  Parvuli 
petierunt  panem ;  non  est  qui  frangat  eis ;  speratur  id  a  benigni- 
tate  tua.  O  piissime,  frange  esurientibus  panem  tuum,  meis  qui- 
dcm,  si  dignaris,  manibus,  sed  tuis  viribus," 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     213 

"  Truly  poor  and  needy  I  knock  unto  him  who  openeth 
and  no  man  shutteth,  in  regard  to  the  most  profound  sub- 
ject of  this  discourse.  The  eyes  of  all  look  in  hope  to 
thee,  O  Lord.  These  little  ones  have  asked  for  bread; 
there  is  none  to  break  it  to  them ;  that  is  hoped  for  from 
thy  dear  grace.  Break  thou  thy  bread,  O  kindest  One, 
to  those  who  hunger,  by  my  hands  it  may  be,  if  so  thou 
deignest,  but  by  thy  power." 

Resembling  Bernard  in  some  respects  was  Norbert,1 
founder  of  the  Augustinian  order  of  Praemonstrants  (d. 
1154).  Though  reckoned  with  propriety  among  the 
French  preachers  he  was  born  on  German  soil  in  Cleves, 
of  good  family.  After  brilliant  studies  he  became  a  cleric. 
But  he  lived  easily,  sometimes  at  the  court  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  sometimes  at  that  of  the  emperor 
Henry.  He  was  loved  and  flattered  by  many  because  of 
his  fortune,  his  social  rank,  his  fine  personal  qualities. 
But  from  an  easy-going  and  not  spotless  worldly  life  he 
was  recalled.  Out  riding  one  day  he  was  caught  in  a 
storm  and  stunned  by  a  flash  of  lightning.  On  coming 
to  himself  he  asked,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do  ?  "  and  seemed  to  hear  a  voice  which  said,  "  Forsake 
evil,  do  good,  seek  peace  and  pursue  it."  He  passed  the 
next  days  in  prayer,  and  soon  begged  to  be  ordained.  On 
being  invited  by  a  dean  to  occupy  his  pulpit  he  consented. 
He  enlarged  on  the  vanity  of  life  and  lashed  the  faults 
of  the  worldly  clergy.  The  discourse  created  a  com- 
motion. Next  day  he  fell  to  it  again  with  such  effect 
that  one  of  the  priests,  whose  conscience  was  smitten, 
struck  him  in  the  face.  All  this  advertised  his  preaching, 
and  the  crowds  came.  He  had  found  his  work.  He  met 
much  opposition,  but  also  some  encouragement  from  the 
church  authorities,  and  was  very  laborious  and  successful 
in  his  work  as  a  travelling  preacher.  Norbert,  like  Ber- 
nard, was  especially  gifted  and  successful  as  a  preacher 
of  peace  and  reconciler  of  disputes.  He  was  offered 
the  church  of  St.  Martin,  diocese  of  Rheims,  but  the 
canons  objected — he  was  too  much  of  a  reformer.  Soon 
afterwards  he  founded  at  Premontre  a  monastery  and 
order  of  Augustinian  monks,  called  from  the  place, 
Prsemonstrants.  They  were  devoted  to  preaching,  and 
1  Bourgain,  p.  128  et  suiv. 


214  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Norbert  was  thus  in  some  degree  a  precursor  of  Dominic 
and  Francis  in  the  next  century.  He  was  finally  made 
archbishop  of  Magdeburg,  in  which  office  he  died  in  1154. 

While  at  Magdeburg  he  put  in  order  a  collection  of  his 
sermons  to  the  people,  but,  unfortunately,  only  a  few 
fragments  survive.  But  the  tradition  of  his  powerful 
and  reformatory  popular  eloquence  remains.  He  was  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  foremost  preachers  of  the  time. 

Later,  living  to  almost  the  end  of  the  century  (1196), 
was  Maurice  of  Sully,1  the  famous  bishop  of  Paris,  and 
founder  of  the  church  of  Notre  Dame.  He  saw  a  bishop- 
ric afar  off  when  yet  a  poor  boy,  and  refused  an  alms 
which  was  offered  to  him  on  the  condition  that  he  should 
give  up  his  ambition  to  be  a  bishop.  His  parents  were 
poor,  but  somehow  the  boy  managed  to  get  an  education, 
and  made  the  best  use  of  his  opportunities.  He  entered 
an  abbey  and  was  rapidly  promoted.  He  made  an  excel- 
lent parish  priest,  and  was  advanced  to  the  office  of  arch- 
deacon. On  the  death  of  Peter  Lombard  the  bishopric 
of  Paris  became  vacant,  and  there  was  some  difficulty  in 
finding  a  successor,  though  there  was  no  lack  of  aspirants. 
There  are  two  stories  of  how  Maurice  received  the  cov- 
eted appointment.  One  is  that  the  electors  could  not 
agree — in  the  embarrassment  of  their  riches — and  left  it 
to  three  of  their  number  to  nominate  the  man,  Maurice 
being  a  member  of  the  committee.  These  could  not 
agree,  and  left  it  to  Maurice ;  whereupon  he  named  him- 
self, being  conscientiously  and  solemnly  of  the  opinion 
that  he  would  best  perform  the  duties  of  the  office !  The 
other  story  is  more  creditable  to  him.  It  is  that  the  elec- 
tors being  at  sea  asked  advice  of  King  Louis  VII.,  and 
the  monarch  inquired  who  was  the  best  pastor  and 
preacher  among  them  all.  The  answer  was  that  Maurice 
was  the  best  pastor  and  preacher,  but  Peter  Comestor  2 
was  the  most  learned  in  the  Scriptures.  The  king  gave  a 
wise  answer :  "  Choose  Maurice  for  bishop,  and  let  Peter 
be  a  teacher  of  the  monks."  So  he  became  bishop  of  Paris 
in  1160;  and  soon  afterwards  it  fell  to  him  to  christen  the 

1  Biographic  Universelle,  s.  v. ;  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p.  42  et 
suiv. ;  Bourgain,  p.  48  et  suiv. 

"The  Eater;  so  called  not  for  his  gluttony,  but  for  his  greed 
of  learning. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     215 

royal  infant  who  was  later  celebrated  as  Philip  Augustus. 
He  is  also  famous  as  having  begun  the  building  of  the 
great  and  historic  cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  of  which  the 
cornerstone  was  laid  by  Pope  Alexander  III.  in  1165. 
The  work  was  of  course  not  finished  in  Maurice's  time, 
but  he  carried  it  well  on  and  got  a  great  deal  of  money 
for  the  building. 

There  is  a  pretty  story  that  while  he  was  bishop  of 
Paris  his  old  mother  paid  him  a  visit  clad  in  the  simple 
garb  of  the  poor ;  but  that  the  attendants  would  not  admit 
her,  and  the  ladies  took  her  away  and  dressed  her  up 
properly  to  be  presented  to  the  great  man.  But  when 
she  was  brought  to  him  he  said,  "  I  do  not  know  this 
lady ;  my  mother  was  never  dressed  like  this,  but  only  in 
the  simple  clothing  of  the  poor;  I  should  recognize  her 
in  that."  Taking  the  hint  the  ladies  removed  the  old 
woman  and  changed  back  her  clothes,  whereupon  the 
bishop  received  her  with  all  love  and  reverence  as  his 
mother;  the  rebuke  not  being  meant  for  her,  but  for  the 
attendants.  Later  in  life  Maurice  retired  to  the  abbey  of 
St.  Victor,  where  he  died  in  1196. 

A  number  of  his  sermons  remain  in  manuscript,  some 
in  Latin  and  some  in  the  old  French  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. These  last  are  highly  prized  by  French  scholars 
on  linguistic  and  literary  grounds.  As  they  have  not  been 
published,  we  are  dependent  on  the  judgment  of  the 
critics  who  have  read  them  for  an  estimate  of  their 
worth.  Both  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  and  Bourgain  speak 
highly  of  them,  but  Daunou,  a  literary  critic  in  the  His- 
toire  Litteraire  de  la  France,  takes  a  less  favorable  view 
of  their  value.  Maurice  enjoyed,  however,  great  reputa- 
tion as  a  preacher,  and  wrote  a  book  of  instructions  on  the 
art  of  preaching. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  there  appeared 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  a  priest  of  the  parish  of 
Neuilly,  who  attracted  great  attention  by  the  pungency 
and  power  of  his  sermons.  His  name  was  Foulques,  or, 
in  its  Latin  form,  Fulco.1  He  was  of  very  humble  ex- 
traction and  uneducated.  On  his  first  appearance  he  was 
laughed  at  for  his  ignorance,  but  he  remedied  that  defect 

1  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p.  75  et  suiv. ;  and  for  his  life  the  article 
in  Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirchenlexicon. 


2l6  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

by  earnest  study,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  the 
great  as  well  as  the  lowly  crowding  to  hear  him  preach. 
He  was  sometimes  almost  suffocated  by  the  throngs  of 
people,  and  men  literally  tore  away  pieces  of  his  clothing 
for  souvenirs.  He  rebuked  the  great  and  helped  the 
fallen.  He  was  especially  successful  in  the  reclamation 
of  fallen  women,  for  whom  he  built  and  maintained  a 
home.  The  story  goes  that  he  once  said  plainly  to  Rich- 
ard the  Lion  Heart  of  England  that  the  king  had  three 
daughters  hanging  to  his  neck  from  whose  embrace  he 
must  disentangle  himself  if  he  would  be  saved.  Richard 
said  it  was  a  lie,  he  had  no  daughters;  whereupon  the 
priest  named  them  for  him — Superbia,  Cupiditas  and 
Luxuria.1  Instead  of  punishing  the  bold  preacher  Rich- 
ard replied  with  bitterness  that  he  would  bequeath  Su- 
perbia to  the  Templars,  Cupiditas  to  the  Cistercians,  and 
Luxuria  to  the  prelates.  In  1198  Foulques  was  selected 
by  Innocent  III.  as  one  of  the  preachers  of  the  fourth 
crusade.  His  success  was  wonderful,  reviving  the  tra- 
ditions of  Peter  and  of  Bernard.  Thousands  were  led  to 
take  the  cross,  and  Foulques  himself  was  enrolled  among 
them.  But  he  did  not  live  to  see  the  perversion  and  fail- 
ure of  the  crusade,  having  died  in  1202.  No  sermons  re- 
main from  him,  but  the  traditions  of  his  eloquence  and 
success  are  well  founded. 

The  abbey  of  St.  Victor  at  Paris  was  founded  by  Will- 
iam of  Champeaux  in  1108,  and  became  famous  for  a 
number  of  distinguished  men  who  studied  and  taught  in 
its  walls.  The  teaching  office,  especially  as  exercised  in 
preaching  to  the  monks,  was  one  of  the  specialties  at  St. 
Victor,  and  Bourgain  2  tells  how  the  brethren  magnified 
the  office  by  magnifying  its  difficulty  and  burden  as  the 
turn  of  each  one  came  to  preach.  Among  the  most  cele- 
brated of  these  preachers  were  Hugo3  (d.  1141)  and 
Richard4  (d.  1173).  Neither  of  them  was  French  by 
birth,  Hugo  being  most  probably  a  Saxon,  while  Richard 
was  a  Scotchman.  Both  were  mystics  and  Richard  was 
the  pupil  and  successor  of  Hugo  in  the  priory. 

1  Pride,  Greed,  and  Luxury.  *0p.  cit.,  pp.  117,  118. 

"Life  and  works  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  175,  with  editorial 
matter  by  the  Abbe  Hugonin. 
*Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  196,  ed.  Hugonin. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR  SCHOLASTIC,  AGE     217 

Hugo  had  been  brought  up  in  his  Saxon  home,  very 
largely  under  the  advice  of  an  uncle,  who  was  an  eccle- 
siastic. He  early  became  a  monk,  adopting  the  Augus- 
tinian  rule.  Troubles  and  civil  war  drove  the  uncle  and 
nephew  from  home,  and  after  passing  some  time  in  the 
Netherlands  they  sought  and  found  refuge  in  the  abbey 
of  St.  Victor  in  Paris.  Here  the  talents  and  acquirements 
of  Hugo  were  highly  valued,  and  in  course  of  time  he 
was  made  prior.  He  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  teaching 
and  preaching  in  his  abbey. 

Hugo  was  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the  mediaeval 
mystics.1  That  trait  had  been  in  Bernard  combined  with 
active  popular  preaching,  in  Hugo  and  Richard  it  was 
allied  with  scholasticism.  Hugo  taught  that  in  the  men- 
tal attitude  to  divine  things  there  are  three  stages :  cogi- 
tation, meditation,  contemplation.  By  cogitation  he 
meant  thinking,  the  application  of  the  purely  intellectual 
processes  to  religious  truth ;  by  meditation  he  understood 
reflection,  or  brooding  over  the  truth  ;  by  contemplation  he 
intended  tO  set  forth  the  highest  effort  of  the  soul,  imme- 
diate or  intuitive  insight  into  truth.  In  this  he  distin- 
guished a  lower  and  a  higher  stage,  and  this  latter  was 
the  summit  of  attainment.2  In  the  way  of  sermons  Hugo 
left,  first  of  all,  nineteen  homilies  on  the  book  of  Ecclesi- 
astes,  which  receive  some  praise  from  Bourgain,3  but 
are  criticised  as  diffuse  and  overloaded  with  digression 
and  allegory.  Besides  these  are  other  sermons,  which 
have  warmth  of  feeling  and  ease  of  expression,  but  with 
the  faults  just  mentioned. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  succeeding  Hugo  as  prior,  was 
a  Scotchman  of  hard  thinking  and  energetic  character. 
He  was  zealous  for  reform  and  discipline,  but  he  was  at 
the  same  time  more  of  a  scholastic  than  Hugo.  He  was 
an  adept  in  the  hair-splitting  subtleties  of  logical  analysis, 
and  also  in  the  most  finespun  and  exaggerated  allegorical 
interpretation  of  Scripture.  This  naturally  falls  in  with 
the  spirit  of  mysticism,  and  it  finds  striking  exemplifica- 
tion in  both  the  Victorines.  Richard  subdivides  Hugo's 

1  Mysticism  and  its  place  in  the  preaching  of  the  Middle  Ages 
will  receive  fuller  notice  further  on.    See  p.  266  ff. 
*  See  Vaughan,  Hours  with  the  Mystics,  p.  157. 
*Op.  «'f.,  P-  118. 


2l8  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

three  stages  of  the  acquisition  of  truth  and  life  into  two 
each,  making  thus  six  steps  in  the  process  of  finding  God. 
The  last  and  highest  is  above  (and  seems  to  be  beyond!) 
reason,  and  is  reached  not  so  much  by  thought  as  by  peni- 
tence and  tears,  being  a  sort  of  religious  ecstasy.  Richard 
left  a  number  of  treatises  among  his  works,  which  had 
doubtless  been  given  to  the  monks  first  as  sermons'  or 
lectures.  They  show  considerable  sprightliness  of  thought 
and  expression,  but  with  the  mystical  and  scholastic  ex- 
aggerations already  noticed. 

The  contemporary  writings  give  much  attention  to  the 
so-called  heretics,  especially  in  the  south  of  France. 
Among  them  were  several  leaders  and  preachers  of  dis- 
tinction. Of  these  especially  important  were  Tanchelm 
(d.  1123),  Peter  of  Bruys  (d.  c.  1124),  his  disciple  Henry 
of  Lausanne  (d.  c.  1148),  and  Peter  Waldo,  who  about 
1170  was  sending  out  his  "  poor  men  of  Lyons  "  as  col- 
porters  and  preachers.  Sermons  from  these  men  are  not 
preserved,  but  even  the  testimony  of  their  Catholic  ene- 
mies and  persecutors  declares  their  eloquence,  their  power 
over  the  people,  and  their  enduring  success  in  establishing 
their  opinions  in  the  hearts  of  their  followers.  The  failure 
of  Bernard  to  overcome  their  work  we  have  already  no- 
ticed, the  effort  of  Dominic  to  counteract  it  will  be  men- 
tioned later.  All  these  things,  and  many  others,  indicate 
that  these  so-called  heretics  were  men  of  conviction,  of 
earnestness,  of  rare  persuasive  gifts. 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CULMINATION  OF  MEDIAEVAL  PREACHING  IN  THE 
THIRTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  thirteenth  century  is  in  many  respects  the  focus 
of  the  whole  period  (1095-1361)  which  we  are  now  study- 
ing. In  this  great  century  mediaeval  preaching  reached 
its  acme  of  power.  And,  as  usual,  this  result  was  due  in 
large  degree  to  events  and  characteristics  of  the  times,  to 
which  we  must  give  brief  notice. 

i.    EUROPE  IN  THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY 

The  four  great  peoples  of  England,  France,  Germany 
and  Italy  were  they  whose  political  and  other  national 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     219 

affairs  give  to  the  thirteenth  century  its  chief  historic 
significance. 

In  England  the  era  is  noted  for  constitutional  history. 
In  1215  the  barons  at  Runnymede  wrested  Magna  Charta 
from  the  weak  hands  of  John ;  and  though  that  famous 
instrument  was  not  a  concession  to  popular  rights  in  our 
modern  sense  of  that  phrase,  it  yet  was  a  bar  to  kingly 
tyranny  and  to  the  concentration  of  power  in  the  royal 
hands.  Later,  however,  the  people  found  a  tribune  in 
Simon  de  Montfort,  by  whose  efforts  there  was  called  in 
1265  a  representative  parliament  in  which  there  sat  for 
the  first  time  knights  of  the  shires  and  burghers  from 
some  of  the  towns.  Thirty  years  later  (1295)  decisive 
turn  was  given  to  all  of  England's  future  political  history 
by  the  assembling  of  the  "  model  parliament  "  of  Edward 
I.  This  was  a  really  representative  body ;  England's  con- 
stitution of  "  king,  lords  and  commons  "  is  fixed  for  gen- 
erations to  come ;  the  people  have  at  last  won  a  place  in 
directing  the  affairs  of  government. 

In  France  affairs  took  quite  a  different  turn,  and  the 
development  toward  a  consolidated  and  strengthened 
monarchy  went  on.  The  reign  of  Philip  Augustus  ex- 
tended nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  into  the  new  era,  and 
under  him,  as  we  have  seen,1  the  monarchical  principle 
made  substantial  gains.  Philip  II.,  who  began  to  reign 
in  1223,  pursued  his  father's  policy,  but  died  young,  leav- 
ing his  son  Louis  IX.  a  minor.  But  the  queen-mother, 
Blanche  of  Castile,  was  a  woman  of  character  and  ability, 
and  as  regent  she  held  the  reins  of  government  with  a 
firm  hand.  The  preceding  kings  made  the  monarchy 
strong,  "  Saint  Louis "  now  made  it  beloved  and  re- 
spected, bequeathing  it  in  1270  to  his  son  Philip  III.  (the 
Hardy),  who  in  turn  soon  left  it  to  his  son  Philip  IV. 
(the  Fair)  in  1285.  This  acute,  unscrupulous,  but  able 
monarch  holds  his  own  against  papal  assumptions,  and  in 
other  ways  brings  a  vigorous  and  powerful  reign  over 
into  the  fourteenth  century.  Throughout  the  thirteenth 
century,  therefore,  France  is  the  strongest  political  power 
in  Europe. 

In  Germany  the  tangle  continued.  The  great  emperor, 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  had  died  in  1189.  His  son,  Henry 
1Antef  p.  176. 


220  A   HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

VI.,  married  Constance,  the  heiress  of  the  Norman  king- 
dom of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  from  this  marriage  came 
the  brilliant  and  unfortunate  Frederick  II.  (1215-1250). 
His  long,  eventful  and  turbulent  reign  was  signalized  by 
the  final  effort  to  subjugate  Italy,  by  the  death  struggle 
with  the  papacy,  and  at  last  by  the  fall  of  his  house.  The 
murder  of  his  son  Conradin,  or  Conrad  IV.,  in  1254, 
ended  the  long  and  splendid  struggle  of  the  Hohenstau- 
fen  against  the  papacy,  and  for  political  supremacy  in 
Italy.  After  that,  for  about  twenty  years,  was  the  Great 
Interregnum,  with  its  anarchy  and  confusion,  till  in  1273 
the  choice  of  the  electors  at  last  fell  upon  Rudolf  of  Haps- 
burg,  the  founder  of  the  imperial  Austrian  line.  Rudolf 
gave  up  the  struggle  for  Italy,  and  devoted  himself  to 
building  up  the  wasted  empire  in  its  proper  German  char- 
acter, and  with  him  a  new  era  in  German  history  begins. 

In  Italy  during  this  fateful  century  all  the  discordant 
elements  of  her  mediaeval  politics  were  in  seething  chaos. 
In  the  north  the  faintly  republican  constitutions  of  the 
Lombard  cities  were  giving  way  to  those  family  tyrannies 
which  characterized  Italian  civic  history  for  centuries. 
In  Piedmont  the  House  of  Savoy  was  already  lay- 
ing the  basis  of  its  future  power.  In  the  north- 
west Genoa,  republican  in  government,  was  mistress 
of  the  seas  and  of  commerce  on  that  side;  while 
her  great  rival  in  the  northeast,  Venice,  was  queen 
of  the  Adriatic,  and  under  her  doges  was  at  the 
pinnacle  of  her  greatness  and  wealth.  In  central 
Italy  fair  Florence,  with  her  quasi-democratic  govern- 
ment, was  a  prey  to  fierce  internal  discords,  and  toward 
the  end  of  this  century  distinguished  herself  by  sending 
into  exile  her  illustrious  son  Dante.  Across  the  peninsula 
further  south  stretched  the  fatal  Papal  States,  the  divisive 
wedge,  destined  to  be  the  last  stronghold  of  Italy's  politi- 
cal dismemberment.  In  the  south  Naples  and  Sicily,  the 
heritage  and  snare  of  Frederick  II.,  came  after  Conrad's 
death  into  the  hands  of  Charles  of  Anjou,  but  the  unpopu- 
lar French  sovereignty  fell  by  the  massacre  known  as  the 
"  Sicilian  Vespers,"  in  1282,  and  the  end  of  the  century 
finds  southern  Italy  under  Spanish  rule. 

Such  was  the  state  of  European  politics  during  this 
wonderful  century:  In  Italy  and  Germany,  confusion; 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,    OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      221 

in  France,  decay  of  feudalism  and  tendency  to  absolute 
monarchy;  in  England,  growth  of  parliamentary  power 
and  strengthening  of  constitutional  monarchy. 

From  political  events  to  social  affairs  in  Europe  the 
transition  is  easy,  and  we  shall  here  find  a  more  immediate 
and  influential  connection  with  the  pulpit. 

The  mighty  impulse  of  the  crusades  was  felt  in  every 
part  of  the  social  order  of  Europe  during  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  and  with  this  were  united  many  other 
forces  which  contributed  to  the  activity  and  progress  of 
men  during  that  stirring  era. 

The  crusaders  and  their  followers  came  in  contact  with 
many  wares  and  luxuries  hitherto  unknown  or  little 
known  in  the  West,  and  they  brought  home  with  them  a 
taste  for  these  things.  All  this  stimulated  trade,  and  the 
merchants  became  a  wealthier  and  more  considerable  class 
of  society.  Venice  and  Genoa  especially  attained  to  great 
power  and  renown,  but  other  Italian  cities  shared  the  new 
prosperity  with  them.  Nor  was  the  new  trading  impulse 
confined  to  Italy.  Inland  and  international  trade  also 
was  marvellously  stimulated,  and  the  cities  of  Germany, 
France,  the  Netherlands,  and  even  England,  felt  the 
quickening  touch  of  business.  Fairs  were  held  for  ex- 
change of  wares  between  the  merchants,  and  these  occa- 
sions were  important  not  only  to  the  merchants  them- 
selves, but  to  all  others.  The  robber  baron,  as  well  as  the 
petty  thief,  was  there ;  the  fine  dame,  and  the  shameless 
courtesan;  the  gay  youth  in  search  of  pleasure,  and  the 
wondering  peasant  gazing  at  the  sights;  the  preacher, 
too,  was  on  hand,  and  used  his  chance  to  rebuke  sin  and 
say  a  word  for  Our  Lady  and  the  saints.  Along  with  the 
merchant,  the  banker  and  the  usurer  grew  rich.  Lending 
money  at  interest  was  esteemed  a  sin,  and  the  usurer  and 
the  Jew,  together  with  the  heretic,  receive  special  atten- 
tion from  the  preachers.  This  commercial  activity  stimu- 
lated others,  as  is  ever  the  case,  and  thus  the  whole  realm 
of  trade,  finance,  and  labor  received  in  this  age  an  impulse 
which  has  endured  through  all  the  following  centuries 
of  western  commerce. 

The  king  and  nobles  were  at  the  top  of  the  social  order 
and  the  clergy  mingled  freely  with  them,  receiving  and 
giving  influences  both  for  good  and  ill.  The  serving 


222  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

classes — house-servants  and  tillers  of  the  soil — themselves 
divided  into  various  orders,  which  we  need  not  stop  to  de- 
scribe, were  at  the  bottom  of  the  social  pyramid.  But 
now  between  these  a  new  order  rises,  or,  more  exactly, 
an  old  but  hitherto  little  regarded  order  grows  into  wealth 
and  power.  The  decay  of  feudalism  and  the  growth  of 
the  cities  by  trade  give  now  to  the  citizen  merchant  or 
banker  a  new  importance  and  power  in  the  social  order. 
In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  we  see  that  great 
power  in  its  formative  stage,  in  its  crude  yet  vigorous 
youth ;  but  even  thus  the  young  giant  gives  promise  of  his 
coming  power,  when  he  shall  be  the  regnant  chief  in 
western  civilization.  The  burghers,  or  men  of  the  middle 
class,  must  be  henceforth  recognized  and  dealt  with  as  a 
power  in  all  social  life.  Their  wealth  makes  them  the 
envy  of  the  lower  class,  the  spoil  of  the  upper ;  and  their 
struggle  to  secure  their  rights,  personal  and  civic,  as 
against  the  buttressed  power  of  kings  and  lords,  is  in  large 
measure  the  history  of  social  and  political  progress  for 
ages  to  come. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
European  peoples  received  a  powerful  uplift  and  showed 
marvellous  development  in  this  period.  There  is  a  more 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  Monks  and  theologian^ 
not  only  hold  their  places  of  leadership,  but  they  go  far 
beyond  the  heights  of  former  days.  As  before  noticed, 
their  ranks  are  recruited  from  all  classes,  so  that  culture, 
like  religion,  is  less  affected  by  caste  than  the  political 
and  social  spheres.  But  now  the  wealth  and  leisure  of 
the  burgher  class  afford  their  sons  the  means  of  higher 
culture,  and  many  of  them  are  found  among  the  earnest 
students  of  the  time.  Nor  is  even  the  ruling  class  un- 
touched by  the  new  zeal  for  learning.  Kings  and  nobles 
are  not  only  patrons,  but  in  some  cases  also  the  pursuers, 
and  possessors  of  culture.  Frederick  II.,  the  brilliant 
and  ill-fated  emperor,  was  a  man  of  letters,  and  is  said 
to  have  preferred  Italy  to  Germany  as  a  residence,  be- 
cause he  could  better  gratify  his  scholarly  tastes  in  the 
southern  land. 

The  universities  of  Europe  arose  in  this  age,  they  were 
crowded  with  students,  and  they  greatly  extended  the 
range  of  studies  pursued  before.  To  the  seven  liberal 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     223 

arts — the  trivium  and  quadrivium — there  were  added 
now  the  pursuit  of  law  and  medicine,  and  above  all  of  the- 
ology. This  last  was  the  scientia  scientiarum  of  the 
times.  The  older  schools,  perhaps  especially  those  of 
Charlemagne,  had  prepared  the  way  for  the  universities. 
In  this  period  we  find  them  in  Italy,  Spain,  France,  and 
England.  Not  till  the  fourteenth  century  did  they  begin 
their  wonderful  history  in  Germany  with  the  foundation 
of  the  University  of  Prague  in  1348.  About  1250  Rob- 
ert of  Sorbon  founded  (but  upon  preceding  institutions) 
the  famous  school  for  theology  at  the  University  of  Paris, 
which,  as  the  "  Sorbonne/'has  perpetuated  the  name  of  his 
birthplace.  That  university  was  already  distinguished 
for  the  teaching  of  theology,  but  this  foundation  added 
greatly  to  its  power  and  fame.  Medicine  was  especially 
cultivated  at  Salerno,  and  law  at  Bologna.  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  also  attracted  students  in  the  various  schools. 
The  number  of  students  reached  grand  proportions. 
This  was  especially  true  at  Paris,  where,  it  is  said — 
though  it  seems  an  evident  exaggeration — that  on  one  oc- 
casion the  University  supplied  20,000  persons  to  march 
in  the  funeral  procession  of  some  noted  man.  The  life 
of  the  students  was  marked  by  many  of  the  characteristics 
which  in  all  ages  have  been  recognized  as  the  students' 
own.  Many  were  studious  and  lived  hard  for  learning's 
sake,  many  were  idle  and  spendthrift,  coming  only  for  the 
name  of  the  thing  and  on  pleasure  bent ;  many  were  dis- 
orderly and  hard  to  manage,  so  that  the  perennial  feud 
of  "  town  and  gown  "  was  a  feature  of  the  age,  and  all 
were  affected  with  the  class  spirit,  the  student  way,  to- 
ward faculty,  town,  each  other  and  the  world  in  general. 

But  academic  learning  was  by  no  means  the  only  intel- 
lectual sign  of  the  times.  Literature  and  art  likewise 
had  their  place  of  influence.  In  England  the  promising 
and  comparatively  early  development  of  Saxon  literature 
had  received  a  check  and  turn  by  the  Norman  invasion, 
but  the  seed  and  soil  were  both  ready,  and  in  the  four- 
teenth century  Chaucer  leads  in  the  founding  of  English 
literature  properly  speaking.  In  France  the  troubadours 
and  other  poets  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
are  founding  modern  French  literature,  and  in  Germany 
the  minnesingers  are  doing  like  service,  while  the  great 


224  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

national  epic  of  the  Nibelungen  probably  receives  in  the 
thirteenth  century  the  form  in  which  we  now  have  it. 
In  Italy  the  close  of  that  same  century  is  immortalized 
by  the  genius  of  Dante,  and  the  way  is  prepared  for  Pe- 
trarch and  Boccaccio  in  the  fourteenth.  In  the  sphere 
of  art,  sculpture  and  painting  are  yet  crude,  waiting  for 
the  kindling  of  the  Renaissance;  and  music,  though  one 
of  the  seven  academic  arts,  must  wait  yet  longer  for  its 
thoroughly  artistic  development ;  but  architecture  achieves 
great  triumphs  in  the  castles,  and  especially  the  cathedrals, 
of  that  prolific  age — monuments  alike  to  the  growth  of 
art  and  to  the  revival,  power  and  permanence  of  the  re- 
ligious feeling. 

This  brings  us  now  to  pay  some  attention  to  the  affairs 
of  the  papacy,  the  clergy,  and  the  general  interests  of  re- 
ligion in  Europe  during  this  age. 

At  the  turn  of  the  century  (1198-1216) there  sat  Upon 
the  papal  throne  the  greatest  of  all  the  popes — Innocent 
III.  As  the  vicegerent  of  Christ  and  the  successor  of 
Peter  he  claimed  sovereignty  over  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  He  reduced  John  of  England  to  abject  submission, 
and  carried  it  with  a  high  hand  toward  Germany,  but 
encountered  a  serious  and  tough  resistance  at  the  hands 
of  Philip  Augustus  of  France.  After  him  the  brilliant 
emperor  Frederick  II. — grandson  of  Barbarossa — con- 
ducted the  struggle  against  several  popes  in  succession. 
He  failed.  At  his  death  in  1250  the  issue  lay  on  the  papal 
side,  but  both  parties  were  exhausted,  and  the  papacy, 
weakened  from  its  long  struggle,  and  in  the  hands  of  less 
able  and  vigorous  pontiffs,  entered  a  period  of  decay.  It 
is  true  that  Boniface  VIII.  (1294-1303)  powerfully  re- 
asserted and  even  extended  the  claims  of  Innocent,  but 
Philip  the  Fair  of  France  was  more  than  a  match  for  the 
astute  Cajetan.  After  Boniface  the  papacy  was  for  a  long 
time  subservient  to  France. 

In  regard  to  the  lower  clergy  the  period  offers  a  num- 
ber of  interesting  points.  The  distinction  of  secular 
(those  who  lived  in  the  world)  and  regular  (those  who 
lived  under  monastic  rule)  not  only  continues,  but  re- 
ceives emphasis  during  this  time.  The  regulars  acquire 
a  greater  relative  importance  for  three  reasons :  ( I )  The 
reforms  in  discipline  instituted  toward  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century  were  not  wholly  fruitless;  the  study 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     225 

of  scholasticism  and  the  contemplation  of  mysticism,  to- 
gether with  other  influences,  combined  to  make  the  regu- 
lar clergy  as  a  rule  superior  in  character  and  attainments 
to  the  seculars.  (2)  The  example,  the  personal  magnet- 
ism and  eloquence,  the  indomitable  energy,  the  wide- 
spread influence  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  in  the  twelfth 
century  gave  to  monasticism  a  new  and  long-abiding  im- 
pulse. Old  orders  were  quickened  and  new  ones  created, 
and  monasteries  were  founded  in  all  lands.  (3)  The 
founding  of  the  two  great  preaching  orders  of  Francis 
and  Dominic  in  the  thirteenth  century,  their  early  en- 
thusiasm and  comparative  purity,  gave  a  fresh  turn  to 
monastic  life  and  influence.  We  shall  see  later  the  more 
particular  relation  of  these  orders  to  preaching.  Among 
the  different  orders,  and  between  the  seculars  and  regu- 
lars as  classes,  there  was  great  rivalry.  The  seculars  and 
regulars  accused  each  other  of  all  sorts  of  evils.  Some 
allowance  must  be  made  for  partisan  dislike,  but  no  doubt 
there  was  ground  enough  for  serious  charges. 

Some  of  the  secular  priests  and  prelates  were  men 
of  high  character  and  gifts,  true  to  their  calling  and 
earnest  for  all  that  was  good  as  they  saw  it.  Others  were 
ambitious,  selfish,  avaricious,  luxurious  and  corrupt. 
Among  the  monks  there  were  not  wanting  men  of  holy 
character,  of  high  intellectual  worth  and  culture,  of  in- 
tense and  unselfish  devotion.  Yet  among  these  too  the 
monastic  vices  found  place.  There  were  the  lazy,  the  gar- 
rulous, the  grasping,  and  even  those  who  were  unfaith- 
ful in  spirit  and  letter  to  the  stern  vows  of  their  order. 
On  the  whole,  in  this  period,  the  balance  of  character  and 
influence  lies  in  favor  of  the  regulars.  Their  decline 
comes  later. 

Such  a  clergy  as  this,  marked  by  both  personal  and  arti- 
ficial distinctions,  it  was  to  whom  were  confided  the  re- 
ligious interests  of  Western  Europe,  so  far  as  those 
interests  were  included  and  represented  in  the  dominant 
Catholic  church.  The  heretics  had  teachers  and  leaders 
of  their  own ;  but  the  generally  accepted  religious  guides 
of  the  people  in  the  centuries  under  our  review  were  the 
Catholic  clergy.  These  performed  in  great  city  cathe- 
dral or  little  village  church  the  offices  of  the  Christian 
worship  as  it  was  then  conducted;  they  read  the  Scrip- 
tures, preached,  prayed,  sang,  said  masses,  and  heard 


226  A   HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

confessions;  they  performed  funerals  and  marriages  and 
baptisms ;  they  instructed  the  ignorant,  comforted  the 
sorrowing,  visited  the  sick,  cheered  the  dying,  helped  the 
penitent,  succored  the  poor;  sometimes  they  rebuked  the 
sins  of  the  great,  and  sometimes,  alas!  they  imitated 
them ;  they  moved  among  all  classes  of  society,  an  influ- 
ence for  good,  though  often  tainted  with  acknowledged 
evil ;  and  such  as  they  were,  frail  and  faulty  at  best,  they 
stood  as  the  moral  and  spiritual  teachers  of  the  people, 
the  ofttimes  erring,  but  often  also  the  sincere  and  humble 
representatives  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  state  of  religion  among 
the  people  during  this  period,  and  only  very  general  terms 
can  be  employed  in  undertaking  to  describe  it;  for  in  so 
long  a  time,  in  so  many  different  places,  there  was  neces- 
sarily a  great  variety  of  phases  and  phenomena.  Yet  the 
mediaeval  life  was  so  slow  as  compared  with  that  of  our 
times,  and  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  church  was  so  little 
broken  as  compared  with  sectarian  developments  since 
the  Reformation,  that  there  was  more  of  sameness  in  the 
general  type  of  religious  life  in  all  Europe  than  would  on 
first  view  seem  likely. 

The  religious  life  of  mankind  has  ever  been  character- 
ized by  ebbs  and  flows  of  feeling ;  and  this  was  true  within 
the  period  we  have  in  view.  About  the  time  of  the  first 
crusade  there  was  a  great  wave  of  religious  enthusiasm, 
which  found  expression  in  that  great  movement.  This 
movement  was  not  confined  to  the  clergy — it  took  hold  of 
king  and  lord  and  vassal  and  serf,  and  even  of  the  chil- 
dren. In  the  twelfth  century  this  revival  had  its  ups  and 
downs,  but  was  on  the  whole  fairly  well  sustained ;  early 
in  the  thirteenth  the  great  preaching  orders  started  an- 
other and  a  different  kind  of  religious  enthusiasm — gath- 
ering great  crowds  to  hear  the  preaching  of  the  more 
popular  friars.  Toward  the  end  of  that  century  and  in 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  there  is  marked  decline. 

For  the  rest  the  attitude  of  men  to  religion  and  morals 
was  not  so  strikingly  different  from  that  of  all  the  Chris- 
tian ages  as  to  challenge  attention.  The  works  of  Bour- 
gain *  and  of  Lecoy  de  la  Marche 2  give  striking  pic- 

1  La  Chaire  Franfaise  au  XHme  Siede. 

8  La  Chaire  Franfaise  au  Moyen  Age,  principalement  au  XHIme 
Siede. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,    OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      227 

tures  of  society  as  portrayed  in  the  sermons  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries;  and  from  many  other  sources 
also  we  may  be  able  to  construct  an  outline  view  of  the 
part  played  by  religion  in  the  life  of  those  far-off  times. 

There  were,  first  of  all,  among  the  people  as  among  the 
clergy,  the  sincerely  pious  and  devout,  who  loved  God, 
made  little  of  worldly  things,  and  tried  to  live  according 
to  the  teachings  of  the  church.  They  had  their  repre- 
sentatives in  all  classes,  from  the  saintly  Louis  IX.  of 
France  down  to  the  humble  peasant.  As  among  the 
priests  so  among  the  people  there  was  the  grand  army 
of  the  half-way  religious — with  all  grades  of  half-way- 
ness.  Nominally  religious,  connected  with  the  church, 
sometimes  penitent,  often  errant,  and  always  worldly, 
they  were  the  terror  and  the  burden  of  the  truly  holy 
in  the  earth.  In  the  clergy  they  might  be  worldly  pre- 
lates, living  in  wealth  and  luxury,  or  doubters  like  Abe- 
lard,  outwardly  conforming  to  the  church,  but  secretly 
doubting  and  expressing  as  much  as  they  dared  without 
losing  their  places;  among  the  rulers  they  might  be  of 
the  type  of  Frederick  II.,  ambitious,  selfish,  bent  on  glory 
and  power,  regarded  as  a  heretic,  anathematized  by  re- 
ligious authority,  and  yet  with  an  outward,  nominal,  occa- 
sional sort  of  regard  for  religion.  There  was  the  jolly 
burgher,  who  loved  his  ducats  and  his  wine,  but  went  to 
church  and  communicated  perhaps  once  a  year ;  there  was 
the  gay  worldling  on  pleasure  bent,  and  his  dame  or  mis- 
tress, with  passion  for  dress  and  finery,  who  yet  upon 
occasion  could  be  very  pious  in  talk  or  passing  emotion. 
And,  of  course,  the  utterly  irreligious,  "  who  feared  not 
God,  neither  regarded  man,"  were  to  be  found  in  all  the 
walks  of  life.  There  were  the  superstitious  and  the" 
credulous,  fearing  all  things  and  preyed  upon  by  designers 
of  every  sort.  And  there,  too,  are  the  so-called  "  here- 
tics," refusing  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  church,  some 
of  them  no  doubt  all  wild  with  disorder  and  rebellion, 
some  half-crazy  with  fanaticism  and  follies,  but  not  a  few 
also  who  yearned  for  and  sought  to  exemplify  and  estab- 
lish a  pure  New  Testament  religion  over  against  the  pre- 
tensions and  corruptions  of  Rome. 

After  discussing  with  great  clearness  and  interest  the 
state  of  society,  as  presented  in  the  sermons  of  the  thir- 


228  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

teenth  century,  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  concludes  his  admira- 
ble book  with  this  striking  paragraph :  "  Our  guides  have 
complacently  pointed  out  to  us  the  weaknesses  of  the  pre- 
lates and  monks,  the  abuses  of  power  by  the  princes,  the 
robberies  of  the  lords  and  their  retainers,  the  ambitions 
of  the  burghers,  the  ruses  of  the  merchants  and  usurers, 
the  coarseness  of  the  sailors,  of  the  laborers,  of  the  ser- 
vants, the  artifices  and  coquetry  of  the  women,  the  pecca- 
dilloes of  the  students.  They  have  given  us  in  a  rapid 
view  the  state  of  knowledge,  the  received  ideas  in  the 
matter  of  government,  of  commerce,  of  education,  the  de- 
velopment given  to  each  branch  of  the  human  sciences. 
And  by  the  light  of  their  torch  that  vast  panorama  has 
appeared  to  us  under  a  darker  color  than  the  reality. 
By  an  optical  illusion  common  to  the  moralists  of  all 
ages  they  have  judged  their  contemporaries  to  be  the 
worst  of  the  generations.  '  We  are  the  dregs  of  the  cen- 
turies,' says  Jacques  de  Vitry  in  so  many  words — Nos 
sumns  in  quos  faeces  saeculorum  devenerunt.  But  at  the 
bottom  it  is  the  same  interests,  the  same  passions,  the 
same  struggles  which  fill  all  the  pages  of  the  great  book 
of  history,  and  at  any  moment  that  it  is  studied  the  human 
heart  is  found  to  be  such  as  it  has  been,  is,  and  will  be. 
There  is  only  diversity  in  the  remedies  applied  to  the 
plagues,  and  it  is  when  those  remedies  are  furnished  by 
religion  that  the  cure  is  least  distant.  The  harshness  of 
the  criticisms  of  the  pulpit  carries  indeed  its  own  correc- 
tive in  itself:  so  much  ardor  to  combat  evil  proves  that 
perfection  was  sought;  so  much  animosity  against  vice 
shows  what  value  was  attached  to  virtue." 

2.     GENERAL  VIEW  OF  PREACHING  IN  THE  CENTURY 

Passing  on  to  take  a  view  of  preaching  itself  at  this 
great  epoch  in  European  history,  we  find  that  the  revival 
which  distinguished  the  twelfth  century  went  on  with 
great  power  and  with  some  new  features  into  its  successor ; 
and  it  was  not  until  late  in  the  thirteenth  century  that  the 
inevitable  reaction  began  to  appear.  One  of  the  evidences 
or  elements  of  this  continued  revival  was  the  enormous 
crowds  which  are  reported  to  have  gatherd  to  hear  the 
popular  preachers.  Even  when  we  make  allowances  for 
over-estimates  and  subsequent  exaggerations  it  still  re- 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE     22Q 

mains  probably  true  that  the  largest  audiences  ever  gath- 
ered to  hear  preaching  were  characteristic  of  this  period. 
It  seems  that  Berthold  and  Antony  had  larger  crowds 
than  Whitefield  in  the  eighteenth  or  Moody  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  The  effects  of  preaching  on  life  and  con- 
duct were  also  immediate  and  profound.  Conversion  and 
its  fruits  are  abundantly  reported  in  the  contemporary  ac- 
counts. The  martial  and  adventurous  excitement  of  the 
crusades  had  given  place  to  a  more  spiritual  and  moral 
movement,  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  these  gained 
comparatively  on  the  other. 

The  most  important  and  significant  movement  in  the 
first  part  of  the  century  was  the  founding  and  early  work 
of  the  two  great  preaching  orders  of  monks,  the  Francis- 
cans and  Dominicans.  The  primary  object  of  these  in- 
stitutions was  to  preach.  The  spur  to  the  establishment 
of  the  Dominicans  was  found  in  the  failure  of  the  pope's 
emissaries  to  overcome  heresy  in  the  south  of  France, 
and  Dominic  conceived  it  would  be  best  to  meet  the  sec- 
taries in  their  own  way  by  sending  forth  preachers  among 
the  people  who  should  live  plainly  and  be  diligent  in 
preaching.  The  Franciscans  came  into  being  in  response 
to  the  example  and  call  of  Francis  of  Assisi,  who  saw 
the  people  in  need  of  the  word  of  God,  and  went  forth 
in  lowly  poverty  to  bring  them  the  message  of  grace  and 
love.  These  orders  spread  very  rapidly  in  the  first  half 
of  the  century,  and  the  friars  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  word.  They  even  went  on  foreign  missions  to  Africa 
and  Asia.  While  the  primary  idea  of  Dominic  was  to 
meet  heresy,  and  so  the  order  was  chiefly  devoted  to  teach- 
ing, it  yet  became  assimilated  to  the  evangelistic  character 
of  the  Franciscans,  and  they  in  turn,  through  rivalry,  at 
a  later  period,  paid  more  attention  to  learning.  In  the 
beginning  these  orders  were  comparatively  pure,  and  were 
fired  with  the  zeal  and  spirit  of  their  founders.  As  they 
grew  in  numbers,  learning  and  influence  they  became 
more  worldly,  and  their  power  for  good  decreased.  But 
through  this  century,  or  to  very  near  its  close,  they  were 
in  the  flourishing  period  of  their  character  and  power. 

But  though  there  was  much  and  very  effective  preach- 
ing in  this  century,  and  though  it  attracted  great  multi- 
tudes of  hearers,  yet  in  quality  and  character  it  did  not 


230  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

escape  the  faults  inherited  from  the  long  ages  of  depart- 
ure from  a  true  Biblical  standard.  When  we  compare 
the  preaching  of  the  thirteenth  century  with  that  of  the 
two  other  culminating  periods — the  fourth  and  the  six- 
teenth— which  preceded  and  followed  it,  we  shall  find 
that  in  respect  of  real  Biblical  content  and  sound  evan- 
gelical character  it  falls  immeasurably  below  them.  It 
was  a  sadly  distorted  gospel  which  was  preached 
in  the  thirteenth  century.  It  had  suffered  from  muti- 
lation, perversion,  and  accretion.  The  use  of  Scrip- 
ture was  often  only  sad  misuse — it  was  either 
neglected  wholly  or  served  merely  as  a  pretext  for 
wholly  unscriptural  or  even  antiscriptural  teachings. 
Wild  allegorizing,  puerile  fancies,  forced  meanings  and 
applications,  gross  misunderstanding,  and  sometimes 
positive  irreverence,  were  only  too  common  in  the  hand- 
ling of  the  word  of  God.  The  best  preachers  were  not 
free  from  some  of  these  faults,  and  those  of  lower  grade 
were  of  course  worse  still.  The  merit  of  works,  the  sav- 
ing value  of  ordinances,  penances,  and  the  like,  were 
presented,  to  the  detriment  of  gospel  truth  and  sound 
Christian  morals.  The  glory  of  the  Virgin,  the  legends 
of  saints  and  martyrs  crowded,  and  sometimes  crowded 
out,  the  history  and  doctrine  of  Scripture.  Scholastic 
and  mystic  subtleties  often  passed  beyond  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  hearers  and  left  the  hungry  sheep  looking  up 
unfed.  Yet  amid  all  this  failure  and  perversion  the  main 
distinctive  truths  of  Christianity  were  ably  and  sincerely 
presented,  and  by  many  earnest  voices  the  saving  power 
of  Christ  was  told,  and  thousands  were  brought  to  his 
cross.  Sin  was  searchingly  analyzed  and  boldly  de- 
nounced, and  to  the  ever-present  springs  of  human  action 
appeal  was  constantly  made. 

The  preachers  of  the  century  may  be  grouped  now  on 
a  new  principle,  according  to  the  tendencies  of  thought 
and  life  which  actuated  them.  These  tendencies,  or 
modes  of  thought  and  life,  were  the  scholastic,  the  popu- 
lar, and  the  mystic.  They  flowed  freely  through  all  the 
preaching  of  the  age  in  greater  or  less  volume,  and  some- 
times the  same  man  would  combine  in  his  preaching  two, 
or  even  all  three,  of  these  elements.  The  scholastic  mag- 
nified the  intellectual,  the  popular  the  practical,  and  the 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     231 

mystic  the  deeper  spiritual  aspects  of  the  religious  life. 
In  this  chapter  we  shall  consider  the  first  two. 

3.     SCHOLASTIC  PREACHING  AND  PREACHERS 

Scholasticism  did  not  begin  nor  end  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  but  it  reached  its  strongest  influence  and  had  its 
greatest  representatives  in  that  time ;  and  this  is  therefore 
the  most  appropriate  place  to  note  its  influence  on  preach- 
ing. Every  great  movement  in  philosophy  and  theology 
naturally  influences  the  preaching  of  the  age  in  which  it 
has  vogue,  and  finds  defenders  and  opponents  in  the  pulpit 
as  well  as  those  who  are  more  or  less  directly  moulded  by 
it.  Illustrations  are  numerous,  and  those  of  our  own 
time  are  ready  to  hand.  But  our  concern  here  is  with 
scholasticism  and  its  influence  upon  the  preaching  of  this 
great  thirteenth  century. 

What  is  scholasticism?  The  words  scholastic  and 
schoolmen  sufficiently  indicate  the  fact  that  what  is  called 
scholasticism  was  primarily  and  chiefly  an  affair  of  the 
schools.  Anselm  in  the  eleventh  century  and  Abelard  in 
the  twelfth  are  very  great  names  among  scholastic  preach- 
ers of  former  times,  and  they  were  both  great  teachers, 
one  representing  the  rigidly  orthodox,  the  other  the  freer 
mode  of  thinking  in  theology.  Scholasticism  is  the  com- 
bination of  theology  and  philosophy.  It  is  the  applica- 
tion of  the  Aristotelian  logic  to  the  interpretation  of 
Scripture  and  the  deductions  of  theology.  It  is  the  effort 
and  method  whereby  the  speculations  of  the  intellect  on 
the  data  furnished  by  church  dogmas  may  be  by  logical 
processes  harmonized  with  those  dogmas.  It  was  the 
serious  attempt  of  acute  and  minute  reasoning  to  give 
itself  the  freest  possible  exercise  and  largest  possible  scope 
within  the  trammels  imposed  by  ecclesiastical  authority 
and  by  accepted  beliefs  regarded  as  fundamental  and 
final.  Scholasticism  was  a  giant  in  bonds.  Perhaps 
never  has  the  human  intellect  more  strikingly  exhibited 
three  of  its  greatest  powers :  speculation,  analysis,  ratio- 
cination. In  regard  to  it  the  question  is  not  as  to  the  in- 
tellectual power  involved,  but  as  to  data  and  ends — as  to 
the  soundness  of  the  premises,  the  breadth  of  the  induc- 
tions, and  the  value  of  the  conclusions,  rather  than  as  to 
the  ability  to  perceive,  deduce,  and  classify  the  material 


232  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

of  thought.  In  penetration  and  acuteness  of  insight,  in 
luminous  and  exhaustive  arrangement  of  matter,  and  in 
logical  severity  and  conclusiveness,  those  old  schoolmen 
were  very  great  thinkers.  As  a  method  scholasticism 
was  sure  to  need  and  to  receive  modification ;  as  a  philoso- 
phy it  could  no  more  be  final  than  those  held  by  the  old 
Greeks,  or  by  the  more  recent  German  and  English 
thinkers ;  but  as  the  occupation  of  the  purest  and  highest 
intellects  of  the  thirteenth  and  contiguous  centuries  it  at 
least  deserves  respectful  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the 
philosopher  and  the  historian. 

As  we  shall  see,  some  of  the  great  scholastics  were 
preachers,  but  the  influence  of  scholasticism  upon  preach- 
ing is  not  represented  in  these  alone.  A  vigorous  and  pre- 
valent method  of  treating  intellectual  problems  in  any  age 
always  affects  many  who  cannot  be  classed  with  the 
philosophers,  and  thus  the  general  mental  habits  of  an 
age  are  colored  by  the  dominant  philosophy,  whether  it 
be  accepted  or  denied,  understood  or  misconceived.  The 
contribution  of  scholasticism  to  preaching  had  regard 
to  both  matter  and  form.  In  respect  to  the  first  the  meta- 
physical subtleties,  hairsplitting  distinctions,  attenuated 
reasonings,  the  dogmas,  fancies,  speculations  about  things 
of  no  particular  consequence  then  or  now,  all  became  in 
some  measure  the  possession  of  the  pulpit.  Men  of  less 
ability  than  the  great  doctors  would  be  sure  to  pick  up 
the  phrases  and  methods  of  the  leaders  of  thought  with- 
out always  knowing  what  they  were  about. 

In  the  matter  of  form  the  contribution  of  scholasticism 
to  preaching  is  more  important  and  enduring.  The  rage 
for  minute  analysis  was  carried  too  far,  but  it  made  the 
sermon  henceforth  a  more  orderly  and  logical  address 
than  it  ever  had  been  even  in  the  hands  of  Chrysostom 
and  Augustine,  not  to  mention  the  invertebrate  homilies 
of  the  ages  of  decline.  From  now  on  the  sermon  must 
include  among  the  elements  of  its  ideal  completeness  clear 
distinction  and  logical  treatment  of  its  material.  The 
tendency  will  go  too  far,  degenerate,  become  tedious, 
ridiculous  even-^but  it  will  stay.  And  so  at  least  one  of 
the  prime  essentials  ol  effective  pulpit  discourse  owes  a 
debt  to  the  scholastic  method. 

Owing  to  the  rise  of  the  preaching  orders  of  monks 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     233 

and  to  other  causes,  the  popular  phase  of  preaching  was 
prominent  earlier  in  the  century  than  the  scholastic;  and 
it  was  not  until  these  orders  themselves  fell  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  schools  and  produced  great  scholars  that 
we  find  the  scholastic  method  very  pronounced  and  pow- 
erful in  the  pulpit.  Still  in  the  early  part  of  the  century 
there  are  a  few  notable  men,  distinguished  prelates,  who, 
because  of  their  learning  and  general  position,  belong 
among  the  scholastic  rather  than  among  the  popular 
preachers.  Among  them  are  two  celebrated  English 
bishops  who  claim  brief  notice  as  preachers. 

Stephen  Langton  (d.  1228)  was  born  in  Yorkshire 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  but  was  edu- 
cated chiefly  at  Paris,  where  he  made  a  warm  friendship 
with  the  gifted  Italian,  Lothario,  better  known  as  the 
greatest  pope — Innocent  III.  In  1198  Innocent  promptly 
made  his  friend  a  member  of  the  papal  household,  and  in 
1206  appointed  him  a  cardinal.  The  next  year,  through 
the  influence  of  the  pope,  he  was  chosen  by  the  canons 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.  But  he  was  not  acceptable  to 
King  John,  and  over  his  investiture  there  arose  the  fa- 
mous controversy  between  pope  and  king  in  which  John 
was  at  last  forced  to  yield,  and  in  1213  Langton  took 
charge  of  his  office.  He  stood  firmly  for  the  country's 
liberty  and  bore  no  mean  part  in  framing  and  securing 
Magna  Charta.  He  remained  in  peaceful  possession  of 
his  diocese  till  his  death  in  1228. 

There  are  numbers  of  unpublished  sermons  of  his  cited 
by  Oudin,1  and  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  has  found  and  studied 
thirty-five  of  these,  somewhat  jumbled  in  one  collection, 
and  besides  a  complete  and  homogeneous  series  in  a 
manuscript  at  Ste.  Genevieve.  They  show  some  real 
oratorical  talent,  and  as  the  learned  critic  observes,  "  pass 
completely  beyond  the  coldness  and  banality  only  too 
common  in  the  productions  of  the  time."  We  are  much 
indebted  to  the  French  scholar  for  having  thus  shown 
that  this  famous  English  prelate  and  patriot  was  also  a 
preacher  of  no  ordinary  force. 

1  See  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  Pars  I.,  chap.  IV.,  from  whom  the 
account  in  the  text  is  chiefly  derived.  He  discusses  Langton 
among  the  French  preachers  because  of  his  education  and  lectur- 
ing at  Paris  and  his  long  sojourn  in  France. 


234  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

The  renowned  bishop  of  Lincoln,  Robert  Greathead 
(better  known  in  its  old  French  form,  Grosseteste;  d. 
1253),  also  belongs  here.  He  is  called1  "in  some  re- 
spects the  most  distinguished  of  all  the  English  mediaeval 
prelates  as  regards  his  personal  influence  both  over  the 
men  of  his  time  and  its  literature."  Born  of  humble  par- 
ents, he  yet  obtained  education  at  Oxford  and  at  Paris, 
and  became  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  the  day.  He 
held  several  subordinate  places  in  the  English  church, 
and  was  finally  made  bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1235.  He  was 
a  diligent  bishop,  strict  in  discipline  and  vigorous  in 
administration  of  affairs.  Though  a  sincere  and  duty- 
loving  man,  he  was  hasty  in  temper  and  somewhat  harsh 
in  manner,  and  so  he  made  enemies  and  had  many  a 
quarrel  on  his  hands.  He  did  not  fail  to  include  among 
his  opponents  several  of  the  popes,  who  desired  to  put 
into  office  men  whom  the  honest  and  sturdy  Englishman 
deemed  unfit.  He  also  stood  by  Magna  Charta,  and  was 
a  friend  of  Simon  de  Montfort.  But  amid  all  these  offi- 
cial cares  he  was  a  diligent  preacher,  and  reports  of  about 
forty  of  his  sermons  remain.  The  writer  quoted  above 
remarks,  "  Of  those  who  speak  of  him,  one  is  especially 
struck  by  his  courage,  another  by  his  universal  knowl- 
edge, a  third  by  his  subtlety  in  interpreting  Scripture, 
and  a  fourth  by  his  frequent  preaching." 

Elinand,2  or  Helinand  (d.c.  1225),  was  born  in  France, 
but  of  Flemish  parents  who  had  fled  thither.  He  was  as 
a  youth  devoted  to  learning,  but  before  his  conversion 
was  much  given  to  the  pleasures  of  the  world.  After  that 
he  became  very  pious  and  joined  the  Cistercian  order  of 
monks  at  Froidmont.  His  learning  was  ample  and  accu- 
rate. He  had  the  classic  and  ecclesiastical  writers  at  his 
fingers'  ends,  quoting  from  them  with  ease,  frequency 
and  effect  in  his  sermons.  In  one  of  these  3  he  quotes 
Horace,  Virgil,  Cicero,  Ovid,  Statius,  Lucan,  Terence, 
Quintilian,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustine,  Leo  I.,  and 
alludes  to  Bernard,  Dunstan,  and  others.  He  was  him- 
self a  writer  of  repute,  his  historical  work  being  still  one 
of  the  important  sources  of  information  for  his  period. 

1  Article  in  Ency.  Brit. 

*  Works  and  notice  of  his  life  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  112,  col. 
481  ss.  8  Sermon  XV.,  on  the  Ascension ;  Migne,  /.  c. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIAEVAL,    OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE     235 

As  a  preacher  he  was  a  trifle  pedantic,  and  did  not  rise 
above  the  manner  and  matter  of  his  age;  but  he  shows 
warmth  of  feeling  and  does  not  fail  to  warn  his  hearers 
against  the  sins  of  the  time.  In  the  very  sermon  in  which 
he  displays  so  much  learning  he  warns  the  monks,  to 
whom  the  sermon  was  addressed,  against  seeking  for  it- 
self the  learning  of  this  world.  He  says,  "  Everywhere 
knowledge  is  sought,  nowhere  life;  without  which  not 
only  is  nothing  profitable,  but  even  knowledge  is  nothing. 
For  this  reason  not  even  knowledge  itself  is  found,  be- 
cause it  is  not  sought  where  it  is,  that  is,  in  the  book  of 
life,  which  also  is  the  book  of  knowledge,  namely,  in 
him  who  is  the  Wisdom  of  God,  in  whom  all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge  are  hid." 

Among  the  famous  prelates  and  scholars  and  preachers 
of  the  early  thirteenth  century  a  good  place  belongs  to 
Jacques  de  Vitry  (Jacobus  de  Vitriaco;  d.  1240),  priest 
in  France,  bishop  in  Palestine,  cardinal  in  Italy.1  Born 
probably  at  Vitry  (some  say  Argenteuil)  about  1180,  he 
was  early  attracted  to  Oigny  by  the  fame  and  piety  of 
the  noted  Beguine,  Mary  of  Oigny,  who  took  a  motherly 
interest  in  her  friend  as  long  as  she  lived.  He  studied 
at  Paris  and  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood,  and,  re- 
turning to  Oigny,  he  soon  became  known  for  his  learn- 
ing and  his  oratorical  talent.  About  1213  he  was  com- 
missioned by  Innocent  III.  to  preach  in  Belgium  the 
crusade  against  the  Albigenses  in  the  south  of  France. 
He  had  great  success  and  went  with  the  crusaders, 
preaching  both  to  them  and  to  the  heretics,  but  naturally 
without  much  success  in  case  of  the  latter.  Soon  after 
this  he  was  charged  by  the  same  pope  to  preach  a  new 
crusade  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  met  with  much  success. 
Meantime  he  was  chosen  by  the  canons  of  Acre  to  be 
their  bishop.  On  the  way  to  Rome  to  be  set  apart  to  his 
far-off  charge  he  found  at  Perugia  the  lifeless  body  of 
the  great  pope — who  had  suddenly  died  there  in  June, 
1216— lying  shamefully  neglected  in  the  church  of  St. 
Laurence.  The  crowd  of  attendants  had  hurried  to  Rome 
to  the  new  election !  Struck  by  this  evidence  of  the  empti- 
ness of  earthly  glory,  he  went  on  to  Rome,  where  he  was 

1Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  p.  53  et  suiv. ;  and  the  article  in  Wetzer 
und  Welte. 


236  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

kindly  received  by  the  newly  elected  pope,  Honorius  III., 
one  of  whose  first  official  acts  was  to  consecrate  Jacques 
as  bishop  of  Acre  in  Palestine.  He  discharged  the  oner- 
ous duties  of  his  diocese  with  faithfulness  and  ability  for 
some  years,  and  then  begged  that  his  resignation  be  ac- 
cepted. This  was  reluctantly  granted,  and  he  returned 
to  his  beloved  Oigny  for  a  short  rest.  Thence  he  was 
called  by  his  friend  Pope  Gregory  IX.  and  made  cardinal 
bishop  of  Tusculum  (or  Frascati),  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  Rome  till  his  death  in  1240. 

Jacques  de  Vitry  was  in  many  ways  a  very  remarkable 
man.  Celebrated  as  a  writer,  especially  of  history,  his  ac- 
count of  affairs  in  Europe  and  the  East  during  his  life- 
time is  of  great  value  to  historians.  As  a  preacher  he 
was  known  in  many  countries,  but  especially  in  France. 
A  contemporary,  quoted  by  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  says, 
"  His  word  moved  France  as  it  had  not  been  moved 
within  the  memory  of  man."  During  his  residence  at 
Rome  he  made  a  collection  of  his  sermons  which  remains 
(partly  in  manuscript),  and  is  said  to  be  unusual  for  inde- 
pendence and  originality.  The  first  part x  contains  ser- 
mons of  different  lengths,  style,  etc.,  suited  to  different 
audiences,  on  the  usual  subjects  of  the  feasts,  the  saints, 
and  the  like.  The  second  part,  yet  unpublished,  consists 
of  seventy-four  sermons  addressed  to  "  prelates  and 
priests;  canons  and  regular  clergy;  scholars;  judges  and 
lawyers;  theologians  and  preachers;  black  and  white 
monks ;  sisters,  gray,  white,  and  Cistercian ;  regular  can- 
ons; hermits  and  recluses;  friars  Minorites;  brothers  of 
the  order  of  the  Temple ;  brothers  Hospitallers,  and  guar- 
dians of  the  sick;  lepers  and  infirm;  poor  and  afflicted, 
people  in  sorrow ;  crusaders ;  pilgrims ;  nobles  and 
knights;  citizens;  merchants  and  bankers;  laborers  and 
vine-dressers ;  artisans ;  sailors  ;  servants  and  domestics  ; 
married  people ;  widows  and  celibates ;  young  girls ;  chil- 
dren and  youth."  In  the  prologue  he  says :  "  The  greatest 
prudence  and  the  greatest  discernment  are  necessary  in 
preaching.  The  same  specific  does  not  suit  everybody. 
The  physician  who  would  cure  all  eyes  with  the  same 
salve  is  a  fool;  and  that  which  the  eye  needs  the  foot 
does  not."  He  has  great  variety  in  his  preaching,  and  is 
happy  and  fruitful  in  the  use  of  illustration. 

1  Adduced  by  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  op.  cit. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,  AGE     237 

At  least  mention  should  be  made  here  of  the  celebrated 
founder  of  the  theological  college — the  Sorbonne — of  the 
University  of  Paris,  Robert  (d.  1274),  who  was  born  at 
Sorbon  near  Rheims,  was  canon  at  Cambrai,  later  at 
Paris,  and  chaplain  to  the  pious  king  Louis  IX.  He  was 
not  greatly  learned,  but  a  respectable  scholar.  Some  dis- 
courses,1 besides  other  writings,  remain  from  him.  "  They 
contain  few  passages  of  an  elevated  eloquence,  but  they 
are  rich  in  moral  traits,  in  examples  of  all  sorts,  and  in 
vestiges  of  the  French  language,  though  written  in 
Latin." 

Preeminently  representative  of  the  dominant  scholastic 
mode  of  thought  were  two :  Albert,  called  the  Great,  and 
his  greater  pupil,  Thomas  Aquinas. 

Albert2  (d.  1280),  to  whom  was  given  the  epithet 
Magnus,  was  born  in  southern  Germany,  entered  the  Do- 
minican order  at  Padua,  was  highly  educated  in  the 
learning  of  the  time,  became  one  of  the  most  famous 
and  influential  teachers  of  his  age,  and  prior  of  the  Do- 
minican abbey  and  school  at  Cologne.  Here  he  did  most 
of  his  work  as  professor  and  preacher,  but  also  lectured 
for  a  time  at  the  University  of  Paris,  whence  he  returned 
to  Cologne  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  died  there 
in  1280.  He  was  called  "  Doctor  Universalis." 

Several  sets  of  sermons  are  attributed  to  him,  but 
many  of  these  are  certainly  spurious,3  and  perhaps  not 
all  the  others  can  be  confidently  accepted  as  genuine.  But 
the  very  fact  that  so  many  sermons  were  put  forth  under 
his  great  name  is  evidence  of  his  power  as  a  preacher 
and  his  influence  upon  preaching.  Those  sermons  which 
may  be  most  probably  accounted  genuine  are  in  the  schol- 
astic method,  and  were  very  influential  in  giving  vogue 
and  authority  to  it.  There  is  a  set  on  the  festivals  and 
saints'  days  of  which  Christlieb 4  says :  "  By  thematic 
form,  through  practical  use  of  the  text,  and  simple  popu- 
larity they  are  distinguished  above  many."  But  his  chief 
fame  as  preacher  rests  on  another  set  on  the  Sacraments. 
Among  them  is  a  series  on  one  text :  Prov.  9 :5,  "  Come, 
eat  of  my  bread,  and  drink  of  the  wine  which  I  have 

1Lecoy  de  la  M.,  op.  cit. 

*  Most  of  the  authorities  previously  noted. 

'Cruel  discusses  them  under  the  title,  "Pseudo-Albert." 

*Art.  in  Herzog,  Bd.  18,  supplement. 


238  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

mingled."  Albert  takes  these  words  of  the  personified 
wisdom  as  being  those  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  a 
prophecy  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  On  the  basis  of  this 
interpretation  he  proceeds  through  a  number  of  sermons 
to  discuss — in  the  characteristic  way  of  divisions,  sub- 
divisions and  distinctions — the  institution,  the  form,  the 
miracle,  the  participation,  and  so  on,  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Almost  certainly  not  his,  but  called  his,  and  illustrative 
of  his  and  the  scholastic  method  in  general,  is  a  greatly 
used  and  prized  so-called  Mariale,  that  is,  a  series  of  ser- 
mons or  sketches  on  the  Virgin.  The  text,  Luke  I  '.26,  27 
— the  mission  of  Gabriel  to  Mary  at  Nazareth — was  used 
to  suggest  a  set  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  questions  in 
regard  to  Mary.  Here  by  the  sophistical  dialectics  of 
scholasticism  there  is  attributed  to  the  Virgin  all  sorts 
of  knowledge,  as  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  law,  and  other 
things. 

Albert's  great  fame  is  merged  into  and  surpassed  by 
that  of  his  renowned  pupil,  Thomas  Aquinas  (1227- 
1274). x  This  greatest  representative  of  the  scholastic  the- 
ology was  born  of  noble  parents  at  Aquino,  near  Naples, 
in  the  year  after  the  death  of  Francis  of  Assisi.  At  five 
years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  be  educated  at  the  well-known 
Benedictine  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino,  then  under  the 
care  of  an  uncle  of  Thomas.  He  was  a  quiet  and  thought- 
ful boy,  and  already,  like  Origen  of  old,  surprised  his 
teachers  by  his  precocious  questions  on  profound  subjects 
of  theology.  At  this  time  Italy  was  rent  by  the  quarrel 
between  the  papacy  and  the  emperor  Frederick  II. — the 
Guelf  and  Ghibelline  factions.  When  Thomas  was 
twelve  years  old  the  monastery  was  burned  by  the  sol- 
diers of  Frederick,  and  the  boy  returned  to  his  home. 
Soon  he  was  sent  to  the  University  of  Naples,  where  after 
a  time  he  fell  under  the  influence  of  the  Dominicans,  and 
while  still  a  youth  joined  that  order.  This  step  was 
greatly  against  the  pride  and  the  tastes  of  his  family,  who 
could  not  abide  the  thought  that  their  well-born  and 
gifted  Thomas  should  be  a  mendicant  monk,  strolling 
about  the  country  barefoot  and  preaching.  He  was  fitted 
for  higher  things  in  the  church  than  this.  The  Domini- 

1  Works  in  the  great  Paris  ed.  of  Drioux;  Life,  by  Vaughan; 
notices  and  accounts  in  many  authorities. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,  AGE     239 

cans  tried  to  smuggle  him  off  to  France,  but  he  was  cap- 
tured by  his  brothers,  who  were  officers  in  the  imperial 
army,  and,  with  his  mother's  consent,  was  made  a  pris- 
oner in  his  own  father's  castle.  This  lasted  for  two  years, 
during  which  time  it  is  said  that  by  his  father's  instigation 
he  was  subjected  to  temptation  in  order  to  corrupt  him. 
But  this  was  resisted,  and  his  enforced  leisure  was  de- 
voted to  higher  things.  Three  books  were  the  companions 
of  his  captivity — the  Bible,  some  works  of  Aristotle,  and 
the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard,  one  of  the  fathers  of 
scholasticism.  These  he  mastered  thoroughly,  and  his  sub- 
sequent life  and  labors  show  also  how  thoroughly  they  had 
mastered  him.  After  two  years  his  family  so  far  relented 
that  he  was  set  at  liberty,  and  later  his  mother  gave  up 
her  opposition  to  his  being  a  Dominican.  Thomas  was 
then  sent  to  Cologne  to  study  under  Albert  the  Great.  The 
young  man  was  of  heavy  build,  reserved  and  shy.  His 
companions  nicknamed  him  bos  mutus — the  "  dumb  ox." 
But  one  day  Albert  set  him  to  defend  a  thesis,  and  he  did 
it  with  such  marked  ability  that  the  great  teacher  said, 
"  You  call  him  the  dumb  ox,  but  some  day  his  lowing  will 
fill  the  world."  When  in  1245  Albert  was  sent  to  the 
University  of  Paris  to  lecture  for  awhile  Thomas  accom- 
panied him  and  enjoyed  a  first  acquaintance  with  that  re- 
nowned seat  of  learning.  On  Albert's  return  to  Cologne 
Thomas  was  for  four  years  his  beloved  master's  assistant 
teacher,  and  then  was  sent  back  to  Paris  to  study  for  his 
degrees.  After  several  years  more  he  was  made  a  doctor 
the  same  day  with  his  beloved  friend  Bonaventura  of  the 
Franciscan  order.  What  a  long  period  of  studious  prepa- 
ration before  he  took  up  in  earnest  the  work  of  his  life ! 

Ready  now  for  that  work  the  young  doctor  Thomas 
Aquinas  found  his  hands  full  as  soon  as  he  took  hold. 
One  of  his  first  successes  was  won  in  a  controversy  with 
the  brilliant  William  of  St.  Amour,  who,  in  a  treatise,  had 
attacked  the  preaching  orders.  Thomas  was  called  to 
Italy  by  the  pope  to  defend  the  friars,  and  he  achieved 
a  brilliant  success.  He  became  very  popular  as  preacher 
and  lecturer,  and  was  sent  by  the  authorities  of  his  order 
to  many  different  places  to  teach  and  preach.  Paris, 
Bologna,  Naples,  Rome  itself,  were  the  scenes  of  his  tri- 
umphs in  pulpit  and  chair.  It  was  thus  that  the  "  dumb 


240  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

ox  "  of  former  days  became  changed  into  the  "  angel  of 
the  schools,"  the  doctor  angelicus  to  admiring  hearers 
and  readers.  But  the  years  of  his  activity  were  not  to 
be  very  many,  though  prodigiously  fruitful.  In  the  early 
spring  of  1274  a  council  was  called  at  Lyons  to  consider 
what  might  be  done  to  reunite  the  Greek  and  Latin 
churches.  Pope  Gregory  X.  sent  Thomas,  who  was  then 
in  Rome,  to  attend  the  council  and  advise  on  points  of 
doctrine.  He  was  taken  sick  on  the  way,  and  died  at 
Fossa  Nuova,  in  north  Italy,  March,  1274,  in  the  forty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age. 

As  a  theologian,  his  vast  and  comprehensive  work,  the 
Summa  Theologies,  witnesses  to  his  industry,  his  wonder- 
ful acquirements,  his  logical  power,  his  depth  and  acute- 
ness  of  thought,  his  Catholic  orthodoxy.  As  a  teacher 
and  disputant,  his  title  of  "  angelic  doctor "  and  his 
numerous  treatises  reveal  something  of  his  popularity  and 
power.  As  a  man  and  Christian,  the  story  of  his  life  tells 
of  his  purity,  his  gentleness,  his  patience,  his  diligence; 
the  respect  and  admiration  of  his  own  and  later  times 
testify  to  the  nobility  of  his  character ;  his  love  for  Albert 
his  master,  and  Bonaventura  his  friend,  shows  the  heart 
of  the  man ;  and  his  humble  piety  toward  his  God  is  illus- 
trated in  the  tradition  of  later  days,  which  tells  that  once 
while  he  was  praying  before  a  crucifix,  the  Saviour  said 
to  him,  "  Thomas,  thou  hast  written  well  of  me ;  what 
reward  wilt  thou  have  for  thy  labor  ?  "  And  the  sainf 
replied,  "  Lord,  none  but  thee."  1 

But  it  is  in  his  quality  and  work  as  a  preacher  that  we 
are  here  concerned  with  the  great  theologian,  Aquinas. 
On  his  journeys  and  during  his  residences  at  various 
places  as  professor  and  lecturer  he  was,  sometimes  to 
monks  and  pupils,  sometimes  on  great  ecclesiastical  occa- 
sions, and  often  too  to  the  common  people,  a  preacher  of 
great  acceptance  and  power.  He  must  have  preached 
without  manuscript  and  in  the  language  of  the  people, 
but  the  brief  Latin  sketches  and  outlines  of  his  sermons 
which  remain  can  give  us  no  just  conception  of  his  power 
before  an  audience.  The  current  Catholic  orthodoxy,  as 

*Acta  Sanctorum,  Mart.,  die  VII.,  34:  "Thoma,  de  me  bene 
scripsisti:  quam  recipies  a  me  pro  tuo  labore  mercedem?  Qui 
respondit,  Domine,  non  nisi  te." 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,  OR  SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     241 

he  has  himself  interpreted  it  in  his  great  books,  formed 
the  doctrinal  content  of  his  preaching;  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  scholastic  analysis  and  the  argumenta- 
tive method  characterized  even  his  popular  sermons ;  but 
it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  the  people  delighted  to  hear 
him.  Broadus  x  says  of  him :  "  Amid  the  immense  and 
amazing  mass  of  his  works  are  many  brief  discourses,  and 
treatises  which  were  originally  discourses,  marked  by 
clearness,  simplicity  and  practical  point.  He  is  not  highly 
imaginative,  nor  flowing  in  expression ;  the  sentences  are 
short,  and  everything  runs  into  division  and  subdivision, 
usually  by  threes.  But  while  there  is  no  ornament,  and 
no  swelling  passion,  he  uses  many  homely  and  lively  com- 
parisons, for  explanation  as  well  as  for  argument."  It 
goes  without  saying  that  as  a  child  of  his  time  and  heir 
of  his  past  he  does  not  escape  the  allegorizing  and  forcing 
of  Scripture  which  we  have  come  to  recognize  as  inevi- 
table in  all  mediaeval  preaching.  The  following  outlines 
will  serve  as  illustrations  of  his  method.2 

Outline  of  a  sermon  on  the 

Coming  of  the  King.  Matt.  21 :5-  First  Sunday  in 
Advent. 

I.  The  Dignity  of  Him  Who  Comes,     (i)  A  merciful 
King — in   sparing.      Isa.    16:5.      (2)    A   just   King — in 
judging.    Isa.  34;  16:5.     (3)  A  good  King — in  reward- 
ing.    (4)  A  wise  King — in  governing.     Ps.  73:1.     (5) 
A  terrible  King.     Jer.  23:5.     (6)  An  omnipotent  King. 
Est.  [Apoc.]   13:9.     (7)  An  eternal  King.    Jer.  10:10; 
Luke  i  :33. 

II.  The  Utility  of  His   Coming.     Sevenfold:      (i) 
For  the  illumination  of  the  world.    Jno.  8:12;  1:9.     (2) 
For  the  spoliation  of  hell.    Hos.  13:14;  Zech.  9:11.     (3) 
For  the  reparation  of  heaven.    Eph.  I  :io.     (4)  For  the 
destruction  of  sin.    Heb.  2:14,  15.    (5)  For  the  vanquish- 
ment  of  the  devil.    Rom.  6:6.     (6)  For  the  reconciliation 
of  man  with  God.    Rom.  5  :io.    (7)  For  the  beatification 
of  man.    Jno.  3  :i6. 

1  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  106  f. 

2  One  of  the  outlines  is  taken  from  the  Drioux  ed.  of  the  Works, 
the  other  two  from  an  English  translation  of  some  of  his  ser- 
mons :  The  Homilies  of  S.  Thomas  Aquinas  upon  the  Epistles  and 
Gospels  for  the  Sundays  of  the  Christian  Year;  translated  by 
John  M.  Ashley,  Lond.,  1873. 


242  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

III.  The  Manner  of  His  Coming.  In  meekness,  for 
four  reasons:  (i)  That  he  might  more  easily  correct 
the  wicked.  Psl.  89:10  [Vulg.].  (2)  That  he  might 
show  to  all  his  lowliness.  Ecclus.  [Apoc.]  3:19.  (3) 
That  he  might  draw  the  sheep  to  himself,  and  multiply 
to  himself  a  people.  2  Sam.  22:36.  [And  a  quotation 
from  Bernard].  (4)  That  he  might  teach  meekness. 
Matt.  1 1 :29.  So  four  things  should  commend  meekness 
to  us:  (a)  Delivers  from  evil;  (b)  Perfects  grace, 
Prov.  3:34;  (c)  Preserves  the  soul,  Ecclus.  [Apoc.] 
12:31 ;  (d)  Deserves  the  land  of  the  living,  Matt.  5:5. 

The  Mystical  Ship.    Matt.  8 :23. 

Four  things  are  to  be  considered  in  this  gospel:  (i) 
The  entering  of  Christ  and  his  disciples  into  a  ship.  (2) 
The  great  tempest  in  the  sea.  (3)  The  prayer  of  the 
disciples.  (4)  The  obedience  of  the  storm  to  the  com- 
mand of  Christ.  Morally  we  are  taught  four  things: 
(i)  To  enter  into  holiness  of  life.  (2)  That  temptations 
rage  after  we  have  entered.  (3)  In  these  temptations  to 
cry  unto  the  Lord.  (4)  To  look  for  a  calm  according 
to  his  will. 

The  next  sermon  continues  the  same  subject  and  shows 
Tiow  a  ship  symbolizes  holiness: 

I.  The  Material.    ( i )  The  wood  represents  righteous- 
ness.   (2)  The  iron,  strength.    (3)  The  oakum,  by  which 
leaks  are  stopped,  temperance.     (4)  The  pitch,  charity. 

II.  The  Form.    ( i )  Smallness  at  the  beginning  repre- 
sents grief  for  sin.     (2)  Breadth  of  the  middle,  hope  of 
eternal  joy.    (3)  Height  of  stern,  fear  of  eternal  punish- 
ment.    (4)  Narrowness  of  keel,  humility. 

III.  The  Uses,     (i)  To  carry  men  over  seas;  in  holi- 
ness we  go  to  heaven.     (2)   To  carry  merchandise;  in 
holiness  we  carry  good  works.     (3  To  make  war;  in 
holiness  we  fight  against  the  demons. 

4.    POPULAR  PREACHERS  AND  PREACHING 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe  that  the  dis- 
tinctive and  emphatic  thing  in  the  preaching  of  the  early 
thirteenth  century  was  the  missionary  or  popular  element. 
Vast  crowds,  popular  enthusiasm,  some  fanaticism  and 
extremes,  but  likewise  conversion  to  God  and  amendment 
of  life  were  some  of  its  features  and  fruits. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     243 

Under  the  providence  of  God  a  number  of  cooperating 
causes  may  be  traced  as  producing  at  this  time  so  notable 
an  extension  in  the  power  and  effect  of  popular  preaching. 
In  a  general  way  greater  consideration  was  now  given 
to  the  people  themselves.  Along  with  the  decay  of 
feudalism,  the  rise  of  the  burgher  class,  the  growth  of 
cities,  the  acquisition  of  some  political  significance  by  the 
middle  class,  the  general  stir  and  heightened  interest  in 
life,  whch  have  been  elsewhere  noted,  there  came  greater 
longing  among  the  people  for  larger  intellectual  and 
spiritual  life.  This  reached  and  appealed  to  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  many  of  the  devout.  For  a  century  and 
more  Western  Christendom  had  been  trying  at  intervals 
to  wrest  by  mighty  armed  hosts  the  holy  places  at  Jeru- 
salem from  the  hands  of  the  infidels,  but  what  was  doing 
to  deliver  the  souls  of  the  masses  in  Europe  and  elsewhere 
from  the  bondage  of  sin,  of  unbelief,  of  moral  decay? 
The  people  needed,  and  Christian  men  must  give  them, 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  And  the  Catholic  leaders  saw  too 
that  many  who  did  not  hold  the  Catholic  faith  in  the 
traditional  and  authoritative  ways  were  seeing  this  need 
of  the  people  and  were  spreading  heresy  among  them. 
So  the  two  motives  of  a  real  concern  for  the  people  and 
a  jealousy  for  the  Catholic  faith  were  working  together 
to  stir  up  more  zeal  for  preaching  in  the  hearts  of  some. 
And  these  two  leading  motives  became  incarnated  in  two 
great  leaders  who  now  appeared  on  the  scene.  Dominic 
saw  that  heresy  could  be  more  wisely  and  safely  met  by 
preaching  the  Catholic  faith  after  the  manner  of  the 
heretics  themselves  than  by  persecution  or  mere  churchly 
teaching;  and  more  devout  Francis  saw  the  neglected 
spiritual  condition  of  the  people  and  heard  his  call  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor.  Hence  arose  the  two  great 
orders  of  preaching  monks  in  whose  ranks  we  find  the 
great  popular  preachers  of  the  century,  and  from  whom 
went  forth  missionaries  in  many  lands  at  home  and 
abroad.  Besides  their  direct  work  the  example  of  these 
preachers  had  effect  on  other  preachers  not  of  their  own 
companies. 

In  character  and  contents  the  popular  preaching  was 
such  as  has  been  described  as  generally  prevalent  in  the 
age — the  current  Roman  Catholic  faith  of  the  Middle 


244  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Ages,  the  traditional  allegorical  interpretation  and  other 
misuses  of  Scripture,  the  excessive  employment  of  legends 
of  the  saints  and  other  unscriptural  material  as  authorita- 
tive, the  doctrines  of  penance,  purgatory,  and  confession, 
the  veneration  amounting  to  worship  of  the  Virgin — all 
these  and  other  overgrowths  upon  the  gospel  we  have 
learned  to  recognize  as  characteristics  of  the  mediaeval 
preaching,  and  they  need  here  be  only  thus  briefly  re- 
called. But  we  must  not  forget  that  along  with  these 
things  the  work  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour,  and  the  only 
Saviour,  was  vividly  presented,  and  the  duty  of  repent- 
ance and  faith  strongly  urged  together  with  the  practice 
of  the  Christian  virtues  as  the  fruits  and  evidences  of  a 
real  Christian  experience.  Moreover,  the  fearful  sins  of 
the  age — in  clergy,  nobles,  and  people — received  brave 
and  keen  rebuke.  These  old  preachers  knew  human 
nature,  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  expose  and  denounce 
and  try  to  correct  its  perennial  foibles.  Change  the  lan- 
guage, the  allusion  to  current  events,  some  of  the  illus- 
trations from  prevalent  customs  and  manners,  and  the 
main  material  of  their  treatment  of  sin  and  its  remedy 
would  apply  to  the  men  and  women  of  to-day  as  well  as 
Jo  those  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

In  form,  the  sermons  of  the  popular  preachers  were 
largely  influenced  by  the  scholastic  passion  for  analysis 
and  minute  subdivision.  In  regard  to  language  they  were 
of  course  mostly,  if  not  entirely,  preached  in  the  vernacu- 
lar dialects.1  For  illustration  and  argument  there  was 
effective  use  of  every  sort  of  majerial — legends  and  tales, 
fables  old  and  new,  the  habits  (real  and  imaginary)  of 
animals,  the  forces  of  nature  (of  course  oftentimes  ab- 
surdly misunderstood),  the  customs  of  the  time,  and  many 
other  sources,  were  open  books  to  these  prophets  of  the 
day.  Sometimes  queer  methods  for  advertising  and  effect 
were  res'orted  to.  "  Sensational  preaching  "  was  by  no 
means  unknown.  There  was  many  a  prototype  of  the 
modern  Sam  Jones  variety  of  "  popular  "  preacher.  Tricks 
and  surprises,  catchy  and  coarse  illustrations  were  not 
infrequent.  The  humorous  was  freely  employed,  and 
this  often  degenerated  into  the  burlesque  and  irreverent.2 

1  See  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  as  above,  p.  184. 

2  Friar  Cuthbert  in  Longfellow's  Golden  Legend  is  not  over- 
drawn. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,  OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     245 

The  marvellous  was  a  mighty  help  in  that  age  of  credulity, 
and  it  was  worked  too  hard  even  by  the  best  of  the 
preachers.  But  the  sermons  were  also  popular  in  the  best 
sense — they  found  the  people,  held  them,  helped  them. 
Vivid  allegory  and  picturing  appealed  to  the  imagination, 
lively  dialogue  and  sharp  home-thrust  kept  the  attention, 
and  warm  and  tender  appeals  to  the  better  feelings  of  men 
were  not  without  effect.  Past  masters  in  the  art  of  popu- 
lar speech,  and  of  handling  great  crowds  in  its  use,  were 
Antony  and  Berthold ;  but  though  preeminent,  they  were 
not  alone. 

When  we  name  a  few  of  the  more  notable  men  who 
distinguished  the  annals  of  popular  preaching  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  we  must  not  forget  the  great  army  of  less 
known  and  even  of  now  forgotten  preachers  who  in  the 
spirit  of  these  leaders,  and  in  use  of  the  methods  which 
the  leaders  exemplify,  went  among  the  people  preaching 
the  word.  Contemporary  accounts  and  the  considerable 
number  of  sermons — many  of  them  anonymous — which 
have  come  down  from  that  age,  show  us  that  the  promi- 
nent and  well-known  names  represent  a  mighty  activity, 
of  which  they  are  only  the  most  notable  examples. 

The  first  place  in  our  discussion  naturally  belongs  to 
the  two  great  men  who  in  the  early  part  of  this  thir- 
teenth century  founded  the  famous  orders  of  preaching 
friars — the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans. 

Dominic1  (d.  1221),  whose  real  name  has  been  lost 
sight  of  in  his  assumed  and  canonized  one,  was  born  in 
1170,  of  high  family,  at  Calaruega,  in  Old  Castile,  Spain. 
In  early  childhood  he  found  his  pleasure  in  going  to 
church,  in  prayers,  in  self-denial.  He  was  well  educated 
in  youth  by  an  uncle,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was 
sent  to  the  University  of  Valencia,  where  he  studied  hard 
the  required  general  course,  and  afterwards  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  theology.  During  his  career  as  a  student  he  was 
distinguished  above  all  his  comrades  for  diligence  and 
learning,  and  still  more  for  his  piety.  He  had  a  tender 

1  The  chief  authority  is  the  Ada  Sanctorum,  August,  Vol.  I.,  p. 
359  ss.  Also,  Vie  de  Saint  Dominique,  by  the  famous  modern 
Dominican,  Lacordaire;  Francis  and  Dominic,  by  J.  Herkless,  a 
brief  popular  account;  articles  in  Wetzer  und  Welte,  and  Her- 
zog.  Dominic  did  not  leave  many  writings,  and  of  those  ascribed 
to  him  the  larger  part  are  considered  spurious. 


246  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

heart,  and  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  to  duty. 
Thus  early,  too,  he  was  deeply  concerned  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men  and  the  conversion  of  heretics.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-four  he  was  called  by  bishop  Diego  of  Osma 
to  be  canon  of  his  cathedral ;  and  in  this  office  he  displayed 
great  zeal  and  preached  very  often. 

Toward  the  end  of  1203  Alfonso  VIII. ,  king  of  Old 
Castile,  sent  bishop  Diego  on  an  embassy  to  Denmark  to 
seek  a  bride  for  his  son.  The  bishop  chose  Dominic  for 
his  travelling  companion.  The  mission  was  successful, 
and  the  bishop  came  back  to  report,  but  on  the  return  of 
the  messengers  the  following  year  to  bring  the  princess 
to  Spain  it  was  found  that  she  had  in  the  meantime  died. 
From  this  second  journey  the  bishop  and  Dominic  did 
not  directly  return,  but  having  communicated  their  sad 
intelligence  to  the  king  they  crossed  the  Alps  and  paid 
a  visit  to  Rome.  All  these  experiences  were  helpful  in 
the  development  of  the  young  priest,  but  now  on  this 
return  journey  from  Rome  occurred  the  turning  point 
in  his  life. 

On  their  way  through  the  south  of  France  the  com- 
panions stopped  a  while  at  Montpelier,  where  they  found 
three  papal  legates  living  in  some  style  and  making  futile 
official  attempts  to  bring  back  the  heretical  Albigenses 
to  the  Catholic  faith.  Diego  and  Dominic  saw  that  these 
methods  were  useless,  and  advised  the  priests  to  adopt 
a  simple  mode  of  life,  go  among  the  people  with  humble 
sincerity  and  use  the  methods  of  preaching  and  personal 
persuasion  which  the  heretics  themselves  employed.  The 
counsellors  set  the  example  themselves,  and  thus  in  1205 
Dominic  began  to  preach  among  the  Albigenses  of  Lan- 
guedoc.  About  the  same  time  he  started  in  a  small  way  a 
home  of  refuge  for  young  women  to  save  them  from 
heresy,  and  this  later  came  to  be  the  female  order  of 
Dominicans,  as  well  as  being  a  sort  of  beginning  for  the 
order  proper.  This  soon  came  into  being.  For  Dominic's 
zeal  and  example  won  others  to  his  side.  He  took  no 
active  part  in  the  crusade  against  the  Albigenses,  but 
at  its  close,  in  1215,  he  set  about  the  establishing  of  his 
order  of  preachers.  One  of  his  friends,  Peter  Cellani, 
gave  him  a  house  for  the  gathering  company,  the  bishop 
of  Toulouse  favored  and  helped  the  enterprise,  and  so 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     247 

did  Simon  de  Montfort.  With  this  good  start  Dominic 
went  to  Rome  to  gain  the  pope's  consent.  As  in  case 
of  Francis,  Innocent  III.  was  very  reluctant.  He  died, 
however,  before  the  matter  was  finally  disposed  of,  and 
his  successor,  Honorius  III.,  in  December,  1216,  gave  the 
requisite  authorization,  and  the  order  of  Fratres  Pr&di- 
catores,  or  Preaching  Friars  (Brothers),  was  fairly 
established. 

Dominic  was  active  in  spreading,  developing,  guiding 
his  order  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  died  compara- 
tively young  at  Bologna  in  August,  1221.  Dominic  was 
himself  a  preacher  of  decided  ability,  and  was  heard  with 
admiration  both  by  the  people  and  the  more  cultured  audi- 
ences of  Rome  and  other  places.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  no  specimens  of  his  eloquence  survive. 

Francis  (d.  1226),  the  founder  of  the  order  of  Fratres 
Minores  ("Little  Brothers  of  the  Poor"),  was  born  at 
Assisi  in  Umbria,  central  Italy,  in  H82.1  His  father, 
Pietro  Bernadone,  was  a  wealthy  merchant,  worldly,  am- 
bitious, and  of  an  evil  disposition.  He  wished  his  fine 
and  handsome  son  to  figure  in  society,  and  was  quite 
willing  to  supply  the  requisite  means  to  that  end.  Francis 
was  of  an  accommodating  spirit  in  that  regard — as  most 
young  men  would  be — and  sowed  his  wild  oats  pretty 
freely;  dressed  well,  enjoyed  life,  and  did  nothing.  But 
all  the  while  he  was  secretly  dissatisfied  at  times;  the 
dormant  conscience  was  not  dead,  the  beckoning  future 
forbade  rest  in  an  idle  and  luxurious  present.  The  youth 
was  of  a  free  and  generous  disposition,  kind-hearted,  lov- 
able, and  popular.  With  a  view  to  social  elevation  he 
enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  one  of  the  petty  Italian  wars  of 
the  time  and  was  furnished  by  his  father  with  a  fine 
equipment.  He  started  with  his  companions  on  an  expe- 
dition, but  his  heart  failed  him — it  is  said  that  he  saw  a 
vision — and  he  returned.  Certainly  this  was  not  for  lack 
of  courage,  but  because  he  had  no  taste  for  the  business. 

1  There  is  a  great  literature  on  Francis.  For  many  reasons  he 
has  appealed  to  sentiment  as  well  as  to  historic  and  religious  in- 
terest. I  have  found  particularly  valuable  the  brilliant  work  of 
Sabatier,  Francis  of  Assisi,  Eng.  transl. ;  a  critical  study  by  Walter 
Goetz  in  Brieger  und  Bess  Ztschrft.  fur  Kirchengesch.,  1901,  SS. 
362,  525;  and  for  the  traditions  and  atmosphere  the  Fioretti  di 
San  Francesco. 


248  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Here  began  his  troubles  with  his  father.  Filled  with 
strange  conflicts,  he  went  to  Rome  in  search  of  peace. 
Here  he  was  much  impressed  by  the  beggars,  and  counted 
it  one  of  the  beginnings  of  his  conversion  that  he  was 
moved  to  tender  sympathy  toward  the  lepers,  for  whom,  in 
his  fastidious  days,  he  had  entertained  a  sickening  aver- 
sion. It  is  said  that  he  embraced  one  of  these  outcasts 
and  gave  him  his  cloak.  The  turning  point  soon  came. 
It  was  in  1206  while  he  was  praying  before  a  crucifix 
in  the  church  of  St.  Damian,  near  Assisi,  that  his  soul 
found  peace  in  his  Saviour,  and  his  resolution  to  break 
with  the  world  and  devote  himself  to  the  service  of  his 
Lord  was  taken. 

A  stormy  scene  with  his  father  followed.  Pietro  ap- 
peared with  his  son  before  some  ecclesiastical  or  civil 
tribunal  and  made  complaint  of  his  disobedience.  Francis 
declared  he  could  no  longer  walk  in  the  ways  his  father 
had  planned  for  him,  that  all  he  now  had  belonging  to 
his  father  was  the  clothing  he  had  on.  Stripping  him- 
self of  all,  he  gave  the  clothes  to  Pietro,  and  ran  out; 
some  one  kindly  threw  a  cloak  about  the  naked  youth  as 
he  left,  and  with  this  only  garment  he  went  to  the  church 
of  St.  Damian  to  pray  and  consider  his  future  course. 
For  clothing  and  food  the  erstwhile  dainty  and  luxurious 
Francis  was  now  for  the  rest  of  his  life  dependent  upon 
charity,  and  this  dependence  became  one  of  the  principles 
of  the  Franciscan  order.  It  is  a  pathetic  and  beautiful 
thing  that,  not  knowing  what  he  should  now  do  for  his 
Lord,  he  noticed  that  the  church  of  St.  Damian,  which 
was  his  soul's  birthplace  and  his  refuge  when  homeless, 
was  out  of  repair;  and  humbly  taking  hold  of  the  first 
work  that  came  in  view,  he  set  about  repairing  the  edifice 
with  his  own  hands  and  with  such  other  help  as  he  could 
get.  This  done,  he  turned  to  do  a  similar  work  at  another 
church  nearby,  Portiuncula;  and  there,  while  attending 
mass  one  day,  he  heard  the  priest  read  the  tenth  chapter 
of  Matthew.  It  came  to  him  as  a  message  from  his  Lord, 
showing  him  his  mission  and  calling  him  to  it.  Now  his 
lifework  was  found;  it  was  to  be  poor  and  to  preach. 
"  No  purse — no  scrip — as  ye  go,  preach  " — this  was  the 
key  to  his  future.  His  soul  had  found  its  burden  and  its 
joy. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR  SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     249 

Francis  immediately  went  to  Assisi,  up  the  hill  from  the 
church,  and  preached  to  the  people  with  power,  accepting 
as  before  only  his  necessities  from  the  hands  of  the 
charitable.  His  words  and  example  produced  an  effect. 
Soon  several  other  men  joined  him,  and  so  almost  before 
he  knew  it,  and  without  previous  intention,  he  was  becom- 
ing the  head  of  a  band  of  preachers.  But  they  were  act- 
ing without  church  authority,  only  talking  from  their 
hearts  without  clerical  ordination,  and  working  together 
without  organization  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1209. 
So  Francis  went  to  Rome  to  get  permission  to  found  a 
regular  order  of  preachers  within  the  fold  of  the  church. 
Innocent  III.,  who  was  then  pope,  was  opposed  to  the 
multiplication  of  orders,  and  only  reluctantly  yielded  to 
the  persuasion  of  Francis  and  the  representations  of 
others,  and  finally  gave  consent  in  1210  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  order,  on  the  conditions  that  it  should  be 
wholly  subordinated  to  the  church  and  under  a  responsible 
head.  Francis  joyfully  accepted  the  conditions,  and  so 
his  "  Little  Brothers  of  the  Poor  "  came  into  being  as  an 
organization  of  preachers  who  should  live  by  charity  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  people. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  saintly  zeal  of  Francis 
should  have  impressed  women  as  well  as  men,  and  that 
so  there  should  have  arisen  alongside  of  the  Brothers  the 
auxiliary  order  of  "  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,"  devoted 
to  charity  and  to  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  the  preach- 
ing brothers.  This  order  came  into  being  under  the  lead 
of  Clara,  the  pure  and  tender-hearted  friend  of  Francis, 
and  was  in  many  ways  a  help  to  him  and  his  brethren 
in  their  work. 

Francis  was  ordained  a  deacon,  and  on  his  return  from 
Rome  set  up  a  sort  of  convent  near  Assisi.  This  was  at 
the  church  of  Santa  Maria  degli  Angeli,  otherwise  known 
as  Portiuncula.  In  the  great  modern  church  which  now 
occupies  the  site  the  original  little  low-vaulted  sanctuary 
is  preserved  under  the  dome,  as  the  central  object.  An  in- 
scription tells  that  this  was  the  cradle  of  the  Franciscan 
order.  Nearby  is  preserved — also  inside  the  church — the 
room  in  which  the  saint  died.  Volunteers  came  in  crowds. 
Their  missionary  activity  was  great.  Cloisters  were  estab- 
lished in  various  places  as  headquarters  with  the  rapid 


250  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

spread  of  the  order  in  many  lands.  Preachers  went  forth 
during  the  lifetime  of  Francis  into  Syria,  Morocco,  Hun- 
gary, Germany,  Spain,  France,  England.  Francis  himself 
went  with  a  crusade  to  Egypt  and  afterwards  to  the  East. 
But  as  the  order  grew  it  developed  tendencies  which  he 
could  not  control  and  were  not  wholly  in  harmony  with 
his  ideas.  A  progressive  party,  under  the  lead  of  Brother 
Elias,  of  Crotona,  was  in  favor  of  making  more  use  of 
education  and  learning,  and  these  ideas,  as  we  shall  see, 
at  last  gained  the  day.  Francis  and  his  more  intimate 
associates  were  in  favor  of  holding  by  the  simpler  prin- 
ciples of  the  first  Rule  of  the  order.  These  troubles  within 
the  ranks  and  the  incessant  labors  of  his  active  life  wore 
upon  the  founder's  mind  and  strength.  He  resigned  the 
headship  of  the  order ;  suffered  much  from  mental  anxiety 
and  bodily  weakness,  but  enjoyed  abiding  peace  of  soul 
and  joy  in  God.  He  died  at  Portiuncula,  in  1226,  only 
forty-four  years  old. 

Of  the  extant  works  attributed  to  Francis *  a  large 
proportion  are  certainly  spurious,  but  a  number  are 
reckoned  by  the  critics  to  be  as  certainly  genuine,  while 
others  are  in  dispute.  Among  the  genuine  writings  are 
no  sermons,  properly  speaking,  but  from  several  of  them 
we  may  infer  something  as  to  the  preacher's  thought  and 
style.  There  is  a  brief  but  interesting  letter  to  Antony  of 
Padua,2  which  shows  Francis'  uneasiness  over  the  com- 
ing in  of  learning  as  an  aid  to  the  preachers,  and  at  the 
same  time  illustrates  one  of  his  main  principles — the  in- 
sistence upon  prayer.  Application  had  been  made  to  ad- 
mit the  brilliant  and  learned  young  brother  Antony  among 
the  authorized  preachers  of  the  order,  and  it  is  thus  that 
Francis  gives  his  consent : 

"  To  my  dearest  brother  Antony,  brother  Francis  in 
Christ,  greeting.  It  meets  my  approval  that  thou  shouldest 
interpret  to  the  brethren  the  writings  of  the  Holy  The- 
ology; in  such  way,  however,  that  neither  in  thee  nor 
in  the  others  (which  I  vehemently  desire)  should  be  ex- 

1  The  only  edition  of  the  Works  of  Francis  to  which  I  have  had 
access  is  an  old  one  (1641)  by  John  de  la  Haye,  containing  the 
works  of  Francis  and  of  Antony  of  Padua.  But  the  critical 
studies  by  Sabatier  and  by  Goetz,  referred  to  in  previous  note, 
have  of  course  been  regarded  in  the  citations  made. 

"Ed.  of  de  la  Haye,  p.  4. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     251 

tinguished  the  spirit  of  holy  prayer,  according  to  the  Rule 
which  we  profess.  Farewell."  The  Letter  to  All  Chris- 
tians is  not  certainly  genuine,  and  even  if  so  in  the  main, 
has  probably  been  retouched  by  later  hands.2  But  as  it 
has  much  in  favor  of  its  genuineness  we  may  quote  it  in 
illustration  of  the  doctrine  and  manner  of  Francis.  The 
opening  address  is  as  follows :  "  Since  I  am  the  servant 
of  all,  I  am  bound  to  serve  all  and  to  administer  to  all 
the  fragrant  words  of  my  Lord.  Whence  considering  in 
mind  that  I  cannot  in  person,  because  of  the  infirmity  and 
weakness  of  my  body,  visit  each  one,  I  have  proposed  in 
the  present  letter  sent  forth  to  offer  to  you  the  words 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  Word  of  the  Father, 
and  [also]  the  words  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  are  spirit 
and  life."  After  stating  the  doctrine  concerning  Christ, 
and  speaking  of  his  birth,  his  mission,  his  institution  of 
the  Supper,  and  his  prayer  in  Gethsemane,  he  goes  on : 
"  Nevertheless  he  placed  his  will  within  the  will  of  the 
Father,  saying,  '  Father,  thy  will  be  done ;  not  as  I  will, 
but  as  thou  wilt.'  Of  that  Father  the  will  was  such  that  his 
blessed  and  glorious  Son  whom  he  gave  for  us,  and  who 
was  born  for  us,  should  offer  himself,  through  his  own 
blood,  a  sacrifice  and  victim  on  the  altar  of  the  cross, 
not  for  himself,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  but  for 
our  sins,  leaving  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  his 
steps.  And  he  wishes  that  we  all  should  be  saved  by  him, 
and  should  receive  him  with  a  pure  heart  and  a  chaste 
body.  But  there  are  few  who  wish  to  receive  him  and  be 
saved  by  him,  although  his  yoke  is  easy  and  his  burden 
light."  Upon  this  good  gospel  foundation,  however,  he 
proceeds  to  erect  a  superstructure  partly  of  the  "  gold, 
silver,  precious  stones  "  of  divine  truth  and  partly  of  the 
"  wood,  hay,  stubble  "  of  traditional  error.  For  example, 
concerning  almsgiving,  he  says,  "  Let  us  therefore  have 
charity  and  humility  and  do  alms,  because  these  wash  our 
souls  from  the  filth  of  sins;  for  men  lose  all  the  things 
which  they  leave  in  this  world,  but  carry  with  them  the 
wages  of  charity  and  the  alms  which  they  did,  for  which 
they  shall  obtain  from  the  Lord  a  prize  and  a  worthy 
reward."  And  so  in  other  places  there  is  noteworthy 
mingling  of  truth  and  error.  But  is  not  this  ever  true? 

1Goetz,  op.  cit. 


252  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

And  must  we  not  remember  the  times  in  which  this  godly 
man  lived  and  what  he  was  taught  and  received  for 
truth? 

Francis  of  Assisi  was  a  truly  wonderful  man.  By 
natural  disposition  he  was  gentle,  loving,  delicate,  and 
these  traits  had  been  mellowed  by  grace  into  a  rare  beauty 
of  character.  That  he  had  some  fanaticism  with  his  de- 
votion, and  was  (as  many  others  in  his  days  and  since) 
a  strange  compound  of  superstition  and  piety,  may  be 
granted.  But  he  was  a  loving  and  lovable  man.  He 
loved  nature,  men,  and  God.  The  mystical  trace  in  him 
was  combined,  as  in  Bernard  and  others,  with  intense 
desire  and  active  effort  for  the  good  of  his  fellowmen. 
His  preaching  was  based  on  his  experience,  and  enforced 
by  his  life.  It  was  simple,  winsome,  tender,  persuasive. 
He  preached  in  the  language  of  the  people  and  to  their 
hearts.  He  held  up  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord.  He 
spoke  against  pride  and  every  sin,  and  in  favor  of  all  the 
virtues,  exhorting  to  penitence,  faith,  humility,  chastity, 
and  love.  His  style  was  not  ornate  and  learned,  but 
simple,  practical,  and  effective.  Sabatier  has  well  sum- 
marized one  of  the  secrets  of  his  wonderful  power  over 
men  in  saying,  "  He  was  of  the  people,  and  the  people 
recognized  themselves  in  him." 

While  many  popular  preachers  of  this  age  belonged 
to  no  order,  or  to  the  Dominican  or  other  orders,  it  is  yet 
not  surprising  that  the  two  who  are  most  distinguished 
for  power  and  success  in  drawing  and  dealing  with  great 
audiences  were  both  Franciscans — Antony  of  Padua  and 
Berthold  of  Regensburg. 

The  little  country  of  Portugal  has  given  birth  to  at 
least  two  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  the  Catholic  church : 
Antony  of  Padua  (c.  1195-1231),  and  Antonio  Vieyra, 
who  lived  in  the  seventeenth  century.  While  Padua  in 
Italy  was  the  scene  of  Antony's  principal  labors  and  the 
resting  place  of  his  bones,  it  was  at  Lisbon  that  the  famous 
Franciscan  preacher  first  saw  the  light,  and  received  his 
education  and  start  in  life.  Ferdinand,1  for  this  was 

JDe  la  Haye's  ed.  of  the  works  of  Francis  and  Antony,  before 
mentioned;  article  by  E.  Lempp,  in  Herzog;  and  a  critical  article 
by  the  same  scholar  in  Brieger  und  Bess,  Ztschft.  ftir  Kirchen- 
gesch.,  Bde.  11,  12,  13. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,  OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     2$3 

Antony's  baptismal  name,  was  born  in  Lisbon,  of  noble 
or  knightly  family,  and  most  probably  in  the  year  1195. 
His  parents  died  while  he  was  young,  but  the  boy  was 
well  brought  up,  and  received  the  current  higher  educa- 
tion, as  his  writings  abundantly  show.  He  early  joined 
the  Augustinian  monks  while  a  student  at  the  University 
of  Coimbra.  But  during  this  period  also  occurred  the 
event  which  decided  him  to  join  the  followers  of  Francis. 
The  remains  of  two  Franciscan  missionaries  who  had 
suffered  martyrdom  in  Morocco  were  brought  to  Coimbra 
for  interment.  Their  fate  took  hold  of  the  fervid  imagi- 
nation of  young  Ferdinand  and  fired  him  with  an  ambi- 
tion to  win  like  them  the  martyr's  crown.  This  was  in 
1 220.  He  left  the  Augustinians,  and  against  the  wishes 
of  his  friends  and  amid  the  jeers  of  his  companions,  he 
became  a  Franciscan  missionary  and  set  out  to  North 
Africa  in  search  of  martyrdom.  He  assumed  the  name 
of  Antony  in  honor  of  St.  Antony,  the  renowned  old 
Egyptian  monk,  leaving  his  name,  his  former  life,  and 
his  native  place  behind  him  forever. 

In  Africa,  however,  instead  of  martyrdom  at  the  hands 
of  heathen,  he  found  a  sick  bed  and  a  long  and  weary 
illness  from  fever.  Under  this  providence  he  wisely  con- 
cluded that  God  desired  not  so  much  his  death  as  his  life, 
and  embarked  for  Italy  to  come  in  closer  touch  with  his 
new  order,  and  become  perhaps  one  of  its  preachers.  But 
his  faith  and  humility  were  destined  to  further  trials. 
The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  wrecked  on  the  coast 
of  Sicily,  but  he  found  brethren  of  his  order  and  with 
them  attended  the  General  Chapter,  which  met  in  1221  at 
Assisi.  Here  he  seems  to  have  been  unnoticed  and  ne- 
glected, but  on  his  humble  request  was  at  last  received 
by  one  of  the  elder  brethren,  who  took  him  with  himself 
to  a  hermitage  in  the  Campagna.  Here  he  remained  for 
a  while  learning  humility  and  practising  asceticism,  till 
at  last  he  with  several  others  came  up  for  ordination  to 
the  priesthood.  As  they  were  at  the  town  of  Forli  for 
this  purpose  'the  prior  or  leader  requested  one  after 
another  of  the  younger  brethren  to  preach  or  lecture  to 
the  rest ;  all  declined  till  brother  Antony's  turn  came ;  he 
modestly  consented,  and  discharged  the  duty  in  such  a 
way  as  to  reveal  to  his  superiors  his  wonderful  oratorical 


254  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

talent.  Request  was  made  that  he  should  be  appointed 
one  of  the  travelling  preachers,  and  to  this,  as  we  have 
seen,  Francis  gave  his  consent. 

Brother  Antony  was  now  fully  launched  on  his  wonder- 
ful though  short  career  as  a  preacher.  From  now  (prob- 
ably about  1222)  to  his  early  death,  some  ten  years  later, 
his  labors  in  preaching  were  continuous  and  heavy.  Not 
very  much  is  certainly  known  of  the  first  years  of  his 
work.  He  preached  in  Italy  and  in  many  places  in 
France,  where  he  had  a  marvellous  effect  on  the  people. 
His  facility  in  language  must  have  been  remarkable,  as 
he  seems  to  have  had  no  difficulty  either  in  France  or  Italy 
in  making  eloquent  sermons  to  the  masses.  He  took 
part  in  leading  questions  and  debates  of  the  day  and  was 
especially  active  and  successful  in  restoring  heretics  to 
the  faith.  At  last  he  was  made  provincial  of  his  order  for 
northeast  Italy,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Padua  in 
1229.  But  the  labors  of  office  too  much  hindered  his 
preaching,  and  he  was  released  from  the  one  that  he 
might  give  his  whole  attention  to  the  other.  But  his 
time  was  short. 

The  Franciscans  had  a  residence  given  to  them  in 
Padua,  and  another  just  outside  the  walls  called  the  Little 
Ark.  In  these  places  Antony  lived  and  worked  during  the 
two  remaining  years  of  his  life.  Great  crowds  thronged 
to  hear  him — thirty  thousand  people,  it  is  said — and  of 
course  no  building  could  accommodate  them.  He  preached 
chiefly  in  the  open  air  and  with  wonderful  power  and 
success.  The  region  near  Padua  was  at  that  time  given 
over  to  many  sins.  He  describes  it  as  a  "field  thirsting 
for  rain ; "  and  he  handles  its  sins  with  faithfulness  and 
effect.  Great  was  his  success ;  but  he  was  suffering  from 
dropsy  and  his  labors  had  exhausted  his  strength.  He 
kept  on  as  long  as  he  could,  but  finally  gave  up  and  took 
up  his  residence  not  very  far  from  Padua  in  a  great  tree, 
in  which  a  little  hut  was  built  for  him  among  the  branches. 
Whether  his  idea  in  this  was  hygienic,  or  superstitious, 
or  merely  whimsical,  does  not  appear.  But  here  in  his 
nest  he  worked  at  putting  his  sermons  into  shape  for 
publication,  until  at  last  he  was  persuaded,  when  near 
the  end,  to  come  back  to  the  Little  Ark  at  Padua,  where 
he  died  June  13,  1231,  about  thirty-eight  years  old. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     255 

There  is,  as  usual,  much  difference  among  critics  as 
to  the  genuine  writings  of  Antony,  but  amid  the  many 
sketches  of  sermons  in  Latin  which  pass  under  his  name, 
no  doubt  some  are  his,  and  in  form  and  thought  at  least 
represent  his  method ;  but  they  do  not  and  cannot  convey 
to  us  any  suggestion  of  the  language,  the  expression, 
and  still  less  the  power  and  moving  warmth  with  which 
he  spoke.  From  among  the  so-called  Dominical  (Sun- 
day) Sermons  x  a  specimen  or  two  may  serve  as  illus- 
tration of  his  manner.  Thus:  Luke  21 125.  There  shall 
be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in  the  moon,  and  in  the  stars;  and 
upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations.  Here  four  things  are 
noted  according  to  which  there  are  four  advents  [of 
Christ] ,  namely,  in  the  flesh,  in  the  mind,  at  death,  and  at 
the  final  judgment.  I  say,  first,  an  advent  in  the  flesh — 
and  that  is  the  assumption  of  human  flesh — is  noted  here : 
There  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun.  For  the  sun  is  the  Son 
of  God.  The  second  is  in  the  mind,  spiritually ;  and  this 
is  the  purifying  of  our  mind,  either  a  protection  against 
sin,  or  a  conferring  of  virtues,  in  this:  In  the  moon. 
The  third  in  death,  which  is  the  separation  of  body  and 
soul,  in  this:  In  the  stars.  For  the  stars  will  fall  from 
heaven,  etc.  The  fourth  in  the  end  of  all  things  (ultimo 
fine),  in  which  there  will  be  apportionment  of  merits  and 
punishment  of  wrongs,  in  this :  And  in  the  earth  distress 
of  nations,  etc.  On  this  basis  he  proceeds  to  enlarge  his 
points  with  all  sorts  of  plays  upon  words,  allegorical 
extravagances  and  the  like. 

In  another  sermon  he  discusses  the  message  of  John 
the  Baptist  from  the  prison,  and  founds  his  treatment 
upon  the  signification  of  the  persons  involved.  Thus: 
Herod  represents  the  world;  Herodias  the  flesh;  John  in 
chains  the  spirit  of  man  in  bondage  to  pleasure ;  and  the 
two  disciples  of  John  stand  for  hope  and  fear.  But  it  is 
really  unfair  to  judge  Antony  by  such  imperfect  speci- 
mens of  the  mere  outlines  of  his  sermons,  and  those  not 
certainly  genuine. 

The  traditions  of  his  preaching  contain  much  of  the 

marvellous,  both  as  to  the  astonishing  crowds  it  drew 

and  as  to  the  effects  produced  by  it.     But  making  due 

allowance  for  extravagance  in  these  stories,  and  for  later 

1  Ed.  of  de  la  Haye. 


256  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

additions  to  them,  there  is  sober  basis  in  fact  for  Antony's 
great  reputation.  In  his  use  of  Scripture  he  followed  to 
the  most  absurd  extreme  the  fanciful  allegorical  method ; 
but  in  his  division  he  used  sensibly  and  well,  without  un- 
due detail,  the  theological  analysis  of  the  scholastics,  and 
did  a  service  to  preaching  in  popularizing  a  better  struc- 
ture of  discourse  than  that  of  the  homily.  In  his  numer- 
ous and  telling  illustrations  he  drew  freshly  and  power- 
fully from  the  everyday  life  about  him,  from  nature,  from 
human  nature;  in  earnestness,  fervor,  and  effect  his 
strength  is  unquestioned;  and  in  drawing  power  he  has 
never  been  surpassed,  rivalled  only  by  his  fellow  Francis- 
can Berthold,  later  in  the  century,  and  by  Whitefield,  per- 
haps Moody,  and  a  few  others,  in  modern  times. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  preachers  of  that  age,  or 
indeed  of  any  age,  was  the  Franciscan  evangelist  Ber- 
thold (c.  1220-1272),  of  Regensburg  (Ratisbon),  in 
Bavaria.1  Not  much  is  known  of  his  life,  which,  except 
for  his  wonderful  preaching,  was  probably  uneventful. 
The  man  is  known  almost  solely  in  his  work.  He  was 
born  probably  at  or  near  Regensburg  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  most  likely  not  earlier  than 
1 220  nor  later  than  1225.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  family 
or  family  name.  He  is  simply  known  as  "  Brother  Ber- 
thold," in  the  various  forms  in  which  the  name  is  given. 
At  an  early  age  he  was  taken  into  the  Franciscan  abbey 
at  Regensburg,  and  there  educated.  Henceforth  his 
name  is  always  associated  with  this  place,  which  was  his 
home  or  headquarters  during  life  and  his  resting-place  at 
death.  Here  he  fell  under  the  tutelage  of  the  pious  and 
devoted  mystic,  David  of  Augsburg,  who  long  taught  at 
Regensburg,  and  was  himself  a  preacher  of  no  mean  abili- 
ties.2 The  friendship  and  encouragement  of  this  good 
man  had  much  to  do  with  Berthold's  after  success.  It  is 

1  All  the  German  historians  of  preaching  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  with  pardonable  pride,  pay 
much  attention  to  Berthold.  There  are  good  discussions  in  the 
works  of  Linsenmayer,  Cruel,  Albert,  Nebe;  and  an  account  by 
Gobel  prefixed  to  his  valuable  translation  of  the  sermons  of  Ber- 
thold into  modern  German.  Editions  in  the  old  dialect  have  also 
appeared,  and  there  are  copious  extracts  in  some  of  the  writers 
above  named  and  in  the  lively  sketch  of  C.  W.  Stromberger,  Ber- 
thold von  Regensburg.  a  See  below,  p.  281. 


THE  CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,  OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     257 

related  that  during  his  preaching  Brother  David  would 
sometimes  accompany  him,  help  him  with  suggestion  and 
cheer,  and  sometimes  sit  behind  him  and  encourage  him 
as  he  preached.  Sweet,  indeed,  is  it  for  the  loneliness 
of  genius  to  be  cheered  by  the  intelligent  sympathy 
of  a  real  friend! 

Berthold's  sermons  show  acquaintance  with  the  church 
fathers  and  other  theological  literature,  but  no  high  de- 
gree of  learning,  nor  any  marked  depth  or  subtlety  of 
thought.  He  could  not  be  called  either  scholastic  or 
mystic,  but  distinctively  a  powerful  popular  preacher  in 
whom  the  clear  arrangement  of  scholasticism  and  the 
warm  piety  of  mysticism  showed  traces  but  not  ascend- 
ency. In  his  convent  sermons  he  used  Latin,  and  in  his 
other  sermons  shows  familiar  and  easy  acquaintance  with 
that  tongue,  but  his  great  work  was  done  in  the  rude 
old  German  of  his  time. 

The  first  mention  of  Brother  Berthofd  is  in  1246,  when 
he  was  sent  to  one  of  the  nunneries  of  his  order  to  lecture 
and  preach.  About  1250  he  appears  as  a  travelling 
preacher,  creating  unwonted  enthusiasm,  attracting  great 
multitudes  which  no  church  could  hold,  overflowing 
sometimes  even  the  squares  of  the  towns.  He  preached 
on  the  hillsides  from  a  lofty  wooden  tower,  and  it  is  said 
even  from  trees,  where  a  sort  of  scaffolding  would  be 
erected  for  him.  He  must  have  had  a  very  powerful  or 
very  penetrating  voice,  and  would  take  the  direction  of 
the  wind  with  a  feather  and  speak  "  down  the  wind." 
During  ten  years  he  went  through  Bavaria,  Suabia,  Al- 
sace, Switzerland,  stopping  longer  in  some  places  than  in 
others,  and  sometimes  repeating  his  visits.  About  1260 
he  turned  toward  eastern  Germany  and  traversed  Aus- 
tria, Bohemia,  Hungary,  taking  in  Franconia  and  Thur- 
ingia  on  the  return  trip.  In  some  of  these  lands  he  could 
not  speak  the  language  and  preached  by  an  interpreter. 
These  are  the  scanty  details  of  a  life  filled  with  incessant 
activity  and  phenomenal  success  in  preaching  the  word  of 
God  to  the  people  during  a  trying  and  fearful  time  in 
Germany. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  years  of  Berthold's 
ministry  (1250-1272)  coincided  almost  exactly  with  the 
period  known  in  German  history  as  the  Great  Inter reg- 


258  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

num,  when  for  about  twenty  years  after  the  fall  of  the 
Hohenstaufen  emperors  there  was  no  king  in  Germany, 
and  the  reins  of  authority  were  loosed.  Petty  sovereigns 
and  lords  were  without  an  overlord,  and  the  political, 
social,  and  moral  disorders  of  the  times  were  great.  In 
such  a  time  as  this  the  voice  of  this  man  came  as  that  of 
a  prophet  of  old,  sent  of  God  to  rebuke  the  wicked  and 
comfort  those  who  waited  for  better  days.  In  1272  Ber- 
thold  died  and  was  buried  at  Regensburg,  where  his  tomb 
was  long  regarded  and  visited  as  that  of  a  saint,  and  his 
memory  held  in  grateful  affection  by  the  people. 

There  remain  some  of  his  Latin  sermons,  probably  only 
sketches,  chiefly  of  his  convent  sermons,  and  perhaps 
written  by  himself.  These  would  be  valuable  if  we  had 
nothing  else,  but  fortunately  in  his  case  a  number — some 
seventy  or  eighty — of  his  German  sermons  have  been 
preserved  in  the  reports  of  hearers.  Early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  one  of  the  brothers  Grimm  called  the 
attention  of  scholars  and  literary  men  to  these  manu- 
script sermons  as  choice  specimens  of  early  German 
prose.  Since  then  they  have  been  published  in  various 
partial  or  complete  editions,  and  a  Catholic  scholar. 
Gobel,  has  done  good  service  by  turning  them  into  mod- 
ern German.  The  sermons  are  now  therefore  accessible 
to  those  acquainted  with  the  German  of  to-day,  and  will 
repay  study. 

From  these  and  the  traditional  accounts  we  see  that 
Berthold  was,  above  all  things,  a  mighty  preacher  to  the 
people.  He  had  true  piety,  conviction,  and  a  sincere 
desire  to  save  and  teach  men.  He  preached  not  for  his 
own  fame  or  reward,  but  for  the  glory  of  his  Lord  and 
the  help  of  his  fellowmen.  Repentance  was  his  principal 
theme.  Like  another  John  the  Baptist  he  thundered 
against  sin,  and  called  the  people  to  conversion.  He  pow- 
erfully and  unflinchingly  attacked  the  sins  of  all  classes. 
He  told  the  lords  plainly  that  they  were  like  rapacious 
eagles  preying  upon  the  sheep,  he  rated  in  no  soft  tones 
the  judges  who  rendered  unjust  decisions  for  hire,  he 
satirized  and  denounced  the  sinful  follies  of  polite  society 
and  the  baser  vices  of  all  orders,  he  paid  special  attention 
to  the  false  and  worldly  clergy,  and  before  Luther  was 
dreamed  of  denounced  the  "  penny  preachers "  who 


THE    CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,    OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE     259 

traded  in  spiritual  things ;  he  scored  the  cheats  and  fakirs, 
the  dicers  and  dancers,  the  lazy,  the  gluttonous — in  fact, 
sinners  of  every  hue.  But  his  special  pet  object  of  at- 
tack was  the  avaricious  man,  the  "  geiziger,"  who  stands 
out  with  unenviable  distinctness  in  his  vivid  pictures. 
Like  Antony  and  other  moral  preachers  of  the  time  he 
condemned  usury  with  reiterated  emphasis.  Heresy,  too, 
claimed  his  attention  and  he  faithfully  warned  against 
what  he  believed  to  be  errors.  On  the  other  hand  he 
painted  in  glowing  colors  the  beauty  of  the  Christian  vir- 
tues and  the  present  and  eternal  rewards  of  the  Christian 
life.  Nor  was  it  a  mere  external  morality  that  he 
preached ;  he  showed  the  worthlessness  of  works  without 
faith,  even  if  he  did  lay  too  much  merit  to  the  works  of 
faith.  He  exalted  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour  from  an 
eternal  and  agonizing  hell,  the  only  Guide  to  the  lasting 
and  blessed  kingdom  of  God.  Of  course,  with  all  this, 
the  characteristic  doctrinal  and  other  errors  and  perver- 
sions common  to  his  age  fully  appear.  It  was  no  pure 
Scriptural  gospel  that  he  preached,  but  mediaeval  Roman- 
ism, yet  at  its  best.  He  was  wonderfully  gifted  in  the 
art  of  fresh,  vivid,  moving  popular  address.  Invective, 
warning,  appeal,  exhortation,  all  were  at  his  command. 
Imagery  and  illustration  abounded,  often  homely,  some- 
times coarse.  Vivid  dialogues  and  shrewd  hits  enlivened 
discourse ;  but  through  all  these  rhetorical  devices  shines 
full  and  clear  the  lofty  purpose  of  the  speaker  to  quicken 
and  guide  the  spiritual  life  of  his  hearers.  The  following 
outline  of  one  of  his  most  characteristic  sermons  will 
give  at  least  a  hint  of  his  manner: 

On  Seven  Very  Great  Sins. 

Text  (misquoted,  and  no  book  and  chapter  given, 
probably  intended  for  John  15:11)  :  "I  rejoice  in  thee, 
and  my  joy  is  perfected  in  thee."  Three  kinds  of  peo- 
ple make  God  glad — each  gladder  than  the  other  in 
succession ;  namely,  those  who  keep  from  mortal  sins, 
those  who  are  habitually  good,  and  those  who  die  in 
the  practice  of  goodness.  Correspondingly,  three  kinds 
of  people  make  the  devil  glad;  namely,  those  who  oc- 
casionally fall  into  sin,  those  who  live  in  sin,  and  those 
who  die  in  sin.  But  seven  kinds  of  people  not  only 
make  the  devil  glad  but  put  a  crown  on  him  (see  Rev. 


260  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

12:3).  The  seven  crowns  of  the  dragon  are  the  seven 
chief  sins,  and  they  bring  people  to  the  bottom  of  hell 
just  as  the  seven  princes  of  Egypt  went  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  Red  Sea.  Here  they  are:  i.  Those  who 
are  damned  for  the  multitude  of  their  sins.  2.  Those 
for  the  greatness  of  their  sins — such  as  perjurers,  adul- 
terers, excommunicates,  etc.  3.  The  devil's  hunters 
(male  and  female),  such  as  harlots,  procurers,  and  the 
penny  preachers.  4.  Heretics.  5.  [Left  blank.  The 
editor  supposes  it  was  the  unpardonable  sin,  about  which 
Berthold  elsewhere  manifests  unwillingness  to  speak 
plainly.]  6.  Bad  masters  and  unjust  judges.  7.  The 
avaricious.  In  "  enlarging  on  his  points  "  he  does  not 
mince  matters  at  all,  but  strikes  out  right  and  left  without 
fear  or  favor. 

Besides  the  great  men  who  have  been  discussed  there 
were  a  number  of  less  distinguished  preachers  to  the 
people  who  worked  in  the  spirit  and  methods  of  the 
leaders.  The  names  of  some  have  come  down  to  us,  and 
there  are  besides  numerous  anonymous  sermons  which 
have  been  preserved  from  that  age,  and  exhibit  the  popu- 
lar character.1 

Among  the  French  preachers  may  be  named  Stephen 
(Fvtienne)  of  Bourbon  (d.  1261),  who  preached  much, 
travelled  much,  and  came  in  contact  with  many  persons 
of  distinction,  secular  and  religious.  He  wrote  a  book 
for  preachers  containing  extracts  and  examples  of  ser- 
mons, and  divided  into  seven  parts  representing  the  seven 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  was  also  William  of 
Auvergne,  who  was  bishop  of  Paris  from  1228  to  his 
death  in  1249,  and  was  very  influential  in  church  and 
state.  He  had  popular  gifts  as  a  preacher,  and  excelled, 
sometimes  exceeded,  in  the  use  of  figures  and  illustrations. 

Of  the  Germans,  besides  David  of  Augsburg,  who  will 
be  noticed  among  the  mystics,  there  was  a  Caesarius  of 
Heisterbach  (d.  c.  1240),  whose  sermons  show  good  skill 
in  construction,  variety,  and  power  of  oratory.  There 
were  also  a  certain  Peregrinus,  from  whom  we  have  a 
collection  of  sketches ;  and  an  anonymous  preacher  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Black  Forest,  whose  lively  and  vigor- 

1  For  the  French  and  German  preachers,  the  authorities  so  often 
cited;  and  for  those  of  Italy,  Zanotto,  Storia  della  Predicazione. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,  OR  SCHOLASTIC,  AGE     26 1 

ous  sermons  show  alike  the  influence  of  Berthold  and  of 
Jacob  of  Voragine.  But  perhaps  the  most  interesting  of 
these  Germans  was  Conrad  of  Brundelsheim  (d.  1321), 
who  was  abbot  of  the  Cistercian  monastery  at  Heilsbronn. 
A  collection  of  his  sermons,  or  sketches,  in  Latin,  bears 
the  curious  title  of  Sermones  Fratris  Socci,  i.e.,  "  The 
Sermons  of  Brother  Sock."  Why  he  was  called  "  Sock  " 
does  not  appear.  One  humorous  suggestion,  mentioned 
by  Linsenmayer,  is  to  the  effect  that  perhaps  he  carried 
his  notes  in  his  ample  socks;  but  Cruel  offers  the  more 
rational  guess  that  it  was  a  nickname  given  him  from 
some  personal  habit  or  occurrence  and  had  nothing  to  do 
with  his  preaching.  At  any  rate,  "  Brother  Sock  "  gave 
to  his  brethren  in  these  rather  scholastic  Latin  sketches  a 
set  of  sermons  to  modify  and  use  which  show  that  he 
was  himself  no  mean  preacher  to  the  people;  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  his  brethren  made  abundant  use  of  his 
liberality  and  often  turned  them  to  account. 

There  was  among  the  Italians  a  well-known  preacher 
called  John  of  Vicenza  (Giovanni  da  Vicenza,  or  da 
Schio),  who  was  renowned  as  a  peacemaker  in  many 
parts  of  Italy,  and  by  whose  eloquent  persuasions  foes 
and  feuds  were  reconciled.  But  more  important  for  us 
than  he  was  Jacob  de  Voragine  (1230-1298),  who  was 
a  Dominican,  and  probably  had  experience  in  early  life  as 
a  travelling  preacher,  but  was,  when  he  died,  a  prelate 
at  Genoa.  He  thus  represents  both  the  parochial  and 
the  popular  preaching  of  the  time.  Not  much  is  known 
of  him,  but  the  traditional  accounts  represe'nt  him  as  a 
greatly  beloved  and  admired  preacher  to  the  people.  His 
interest  for  us  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
compiler  of  the  stories  of  the  saints  in  the  collection  called 
Legenda  Aurea,  commonly  known  to  us  in  the  singular 
number  as  the  "  Golden  Legend."  There  were,  of  course, 
later  editions  of  this  book,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  deter- 
mine how  much  of  the  work  is  due  to  his  editorial  care 
and  was  worked  over  by  him.  In  the  collection  are  many 
sermons,  mostly  on  the  saints  and  the  Virgin  Mary. 
Christlieb  l  says  the  book  gives  us  "  a  deep  insight  into 
the  etymological  fooleries  (interpreting  allegorically  the 
names  of  Biblical  characters,  etc.),  the  crass  superstitions 
1  Art.  in  Herzog,  Bd.  18,  supplement. 


262  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  the  incredibly  tasteless  love  of  miracles  of  that  age. 
Also  its  numerous  sermons  show  not  only  the  unfruit- 
fulness  for  real  edification  of  scholastic  pedantic  trifling 
and  legendary  picturing,  but  they  helped  much  to  corrupt 
taste  in  preaching."  But  the  sermons  are  given  in  a 
warm,  even  fiery  manner,  and  are  often  lively  and  pic- 
turesque in  style  and  imagery,  and  so  very  well  suited 
to  popular  use.  Longfellow's  Golden  Legend  gives  many 
a  hint  as  to  the  contents  of  the  book,  though  by  him  the 
best  parts  were  selected,  hung  on  the  thread  of  a  pleasing 
story,  and  softened  and  beautified  by  the  spirit  of  poetry 
and  the  gentle  sentiment  of  our  poet  of  the  fireside. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

DECLINE   AND   MYSTICISM    IN   THE  THIRTEENTH    AND 
FOURTEENTH  CENTURIES 

In  the  present  chapter  we  have  to  do  with  the  latter 
part  of  the  thirteenth  and  a  little  more  than  the  first  half 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  that  is,  as  far  as  the  death  of 
John  Tauler,  the  great  mystic  preacher,  in  1361. 

Europe  was  a  troubled  world  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
The  Hundred  Years'  War  between  England  and  France 
was  begun  by  Edward  III.  of  England  early  in  the  cen- 
tury, and  was  taxing  the  strength  and  resources  of  both 
nations.  Germany  was  in  awful  confusion  with  a  dis- 
puted imperial  succession  between  Louis  of  Bavaria  and 
Frederick  of  Austria ;  division,  civil  wars,  and  other  trials 
desolated  the  land.  Conditions  in  Italy  were  no  better 
than  formerly — endless  squabbles  and  no  hope  of  unity 
and  strength.  After  the  conflict  of  Boniface  VIII.  with 
Philip  the  Fair  the  papacy  became  a  tool  of  France,  and 
for  seventy  years  (1309-1378)  the  residence  of  the  popes 
was  at  Avignon  in  southern  France,  instead  of  at  Rome. 
Corruption  accompanied  decay.  The  papal  court  by  its 
luxury  and  turpitude  was  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  man- 
kind, and  there  seemed  no  remedy  for  the  desperate  case. 
In  such  a  time  preaching  fared  but  ill.  We  have  to  note 
a  sad  decline  in  the  scholastic  and  popular  types  of 
preaching,  but  at  the  same  time  to  describe  the  growth 
and  power  of  the  mystic  type  which  stamps  a  somewhat 
redeeming  character  of  its  own  upon  the  age. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     263 

i.     DECLINE  OF  SCHOLASTIC  AND  POPULAR  PREACHING 

The  great  preachers  of  the  Dominican  and  Franciscan 
orders  had  passed  away,  and  the  day  of  the  second-rate 
man  had  come.  Albert  and  Thomas,  Antony  and  Ber- 
thold  are  memories  and  models,  but  no  longer  living 
forces.  Along  with  this,  popular  interest  in  preaching 
and  popular  regard  for  the  preacher  sensibly  diminished. 
We  do  not  now  hear  of  so  great  crowds  and  so  great 
effects.  Furthermore,  the  quality  of  sermons  which 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  scholastic  and  popular 
preachers  after  Aquinas  and  Berthold  gives  abundant 
evidence  of  a  falling  off  in  power. 

In  undertaking  to  discover  and  state  the  causes  of  this 
decay  we  have  to  fall  back  upon  that  mysterious  law  of 
reaction  which  we  have  so  frequent  occasion  to  observe 
and  apply.  The  two  great  movements  in  preaching  to 
which  the  names  scholastic  and  popular  have  been  given 
had  reached  their  height  and  must  recede.  At  high  tide 
there  is  strength,  repose,  beauty;  but  when  the  waters 
recede  they  leave  trash  and  slime  behind  them  to  augment 
the  ugly  and  unclean  things  which  they  had  covered  but 
not  washed  away.  So  the  inherent,  inevitable,  faults  and 
weaknesses  which  are  connected  with  every  great  for- 
ward movement — whether  in  the  movement  itself,  as  in 
the  wave,  or  fixed  in  habit  and  custom,  as  on  the  shore — 
appear  in  all  their  ugliness  when  the  reaction  comes.  In 
the  scholastic  sermons,  the  over-speculation,  the  hair- 
splitting distinctions,  the  tedious  detail  of  analysis,  the 
frequent  sophistries  and  useless  conclusions  were  at  all 
times  ugly  faults;  but  now  that  the  vigor  of  youth  and 
the  freshness  of  genius  were  departed  this  manner  of 
preaching  became  barren  indeed.  And  still  worse  was  it 
that  the  religious  spirit  which  had  counteracted  and  even 
utilized  so  much  that  was  weak  in  scholasticism  had  itself 
lost  intensity  and  fervor.  In  popular  preaching,  the 
seeking  after  effect,  the  misuse  of  Scripture,  the  coarse 
humor,  that  could  hardly  be  tolerated  even  when  accom- 
panied by  real  devotion  and  spiritual  power,  became  now 
in  their  emptiness  almost  a  hideous  mockery  of  preaching. 
Further,  as  to  both  these  modes  of  preaching,  we  see 
what  is  well  exemplified  in  many  other  spheres,  namely, 


N 

264  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

that  methods  which  are  rods  of  power  in  the  hands  of 
masters  are  rotten  reeds  in  those  of  feeble  imitators. 
Little  Thomases  and  little  Bertholds  multiplied,  and  made 
odious  the  things  which  had  done  good  service  in  a 
former  generation. 

And  in  addition  to  these  inward  causes  of  decay  the 
standing  external  hindrances  were  to  be  reckoned  with. 
The  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  always  and  every- 
where, are  leagued  in  lively  cooperation  against  good 
gospel  preaching;  and  these  evil  allies  were  as  present 
and  as  potent  in  the  times  which  we  are  discussing  as 
they  are  in  our  own.  Corruption  in  society  and  church, 
in  laity  and  clergy,  was  bad  enough  and  getting  worse. 
And,  finally,  we  must  notice  that  growth  of  power,  popu- 
larity, and  even  earthly  possessions,  had  corrupted  and 
weakened  the  spiritual  and  fruitful  work  of  the  two  great 
preaching  orders.  Except  for  the  mystics  among  the 
Dominicans  we  have  to  record  a  falling  off  in  character, 
and  therefore  in  the  best  influence,  for  both  the  orders  of 
preachers.  Yet  we  must  not  think  that  the  decay  was 
total  or  even  more  rapid  than  it  really  was.  History  is 
not  best  written  in  antitheses.  We  may  err  to  distortion 
by  emphasizing  contrast.  In  human  affairs  evil  and 
good  are  always  present,  sometimes  one  is  more  evident, 
sometimes  the  other. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  continuity  of  our  narrative 
there  is  needed  a  brief  mention  of  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant preachers  of  the  scholastic  and  popular  tendencies 
during  the  late  thirteenth  and  early  fourteenth  centuries. 
But  only  a  few  of  the  best  from  the  different  countries 
need  be  named. 

In  Italy  there  was  a  certain  Jordan  (Giordano)  of  Pisa, 
or  Rivalto  (d.  1311),  who  is  mentioned  favorably  by 
Italian  writers  as  a  preacher  of  power  in  the  popular 
tongue,  who  was  also  distinguished  both  for  his  piety 
and  his  scholarship.  He  was  learned  in  the  languages, 
and  his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  is  praised  as  re- 
markable. 

In  Germany  there  are  several  preachers  worthy  of 
being  remembered.  One  was  Nicholas  of  Landau,  who 
was  quite  a  scholastic,  pushing  the  method  of  that 
school  to  considerable  extremes.  Another  was  Henry  of 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     265 

Frimar  (d.  1340),  who  taught  in  Paris  for  a  while,  and 
then  in  Prague.  From  him  a  number  of  very  scholastic 
sermons  remain.  Like  him  was  Jordan  of  Quedlinburg, 
who  enjoyed  a  good  reputation  in  his  day  and  left  behind 
him  a  number  of  sermons  in  Latin,  which  are  marked 
like  the  others  by  excess  of  scholasticism. 

In  France  there  were  a  number  of  preachers,  but  none 
very  distinguished  in  comparison  with  those  of  earlier 
and  later  times.  Famous  as  a  scholar  and  commentator, 
though  not  especially  for  his  preaching,  was  Nicholas 
of  Lyra  (d.  1340),  a  Franciscan,  and  teacher  at  Paris 
and  other  places.  His  commentary  on  the  whole  Bible 
had  the  name  of  "  postils,"  or  brief  homilies,  and  sug- 
gests that  a  good  deal  of  it  was  used  in  preaching.  Be- 
sides there  are  some  sermons  remaining.  But  Lyra's 
chief  distinction  is  that  in  interpreting  the  Bible  he 
somewhat  broke  away  from  the  traditional  and  absurd 
allegorical  method  and  did  something  toward  bringing 
in  a  sounder  exegesis  of  Scripture.  Besides,  there  were 
two  distinguished  prelates  and  canonists  (interpreters 
of  canon,  i.e.,  ecclesiastical  as  distinguished  from  civil, 
law)  who  botse  the  name  of  William  Durand,  the  elder 
the  uncle  (d.  1296),  and  the  younger  (d.  1328),  from 
whom  some  sermons  and  a  good  name  remain. 

England  was  not  fertile  of  strong  preachers  during 
any  part  of  this  period.  She  was  waiting  for  Wiclif  and 
the  Reformation.  But  of  course  there  were  preaching 
and  preachers  in  England  all  this  while,  and  two  dis- 
tinguished prelates  who  belonged  to  the  Dominican 
order  may  be  named  as  lights  of  the  period.  These  were 
William  of  Macclesfield,  and  Walter  of  Winterbourne 
(d.  1305).  The  latter  was  in  the  evening  of  his  life  a 
learned  canonist  and  cardinal,  and  of  his  earlier  days 
Fuller  l  says,  "  in  his  youth  he  was  a  good  poet  and  an 
orator."  From  this  we  may  perhaps  sadly  infer  that 
learning  and  law  and  office  had  dried  up  the  springs  of 
his  fancy  and  had  left  him  less  effective  in  speech  during 
his  later  years.  At  any  rate  such  and  such  things  have 
been  known  to  happen  to  Englishmen — and  to  others. 
From  this  declining  scholasticism  let  us  turn  to  the  rising 
power  of  mystic  preaching. 

1  Quoted  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.,  article  on  Walter  of  Winterbourne. 


266  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

2.    RISE  AND  POWER  OF  MYSTIC  PREACHING 

Mysticism  l  has  appeared  in  many  ages  and  nations,  in 
philosophy  and  life,  as  well  as  in  theology  and  religion 
and  preaching.  It  has  also  more  or  less  affected  the 
preaching  of  every  age ;  but  as  some  of  the  most  notable 
preachers  of  the  period  we  have  under  notice  were 
mystics,  this  is  perhaps  the  best  place  to  give  to  mysticism 
such  brief  consideration  as  our  space  permits,  before  dis- 
cussing its  leading  representatives  in  the  pulpit  of  the 
time. 

When  we  ask  what  is  mysticism?  the  very  associa- 
tions of  the  word  suggest  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
definition.  Like  all  terms  used  to  describe  mental 
phenomena  and  tendencies  of  thought,  which  have  large 
general  import  and  many  shades  of  particular  application, 
mysticism  is  hard  to  define.  That  is,  it  is  difficult  to 
frame  a  statement  general  enough  to  include  all  that  is 
meant  by  the  term  and  brief  enough  to  be  put  into  a 
sentence  and  easily  remembered.  But  brief  descriptive 
statements  of  the  essential  character  of  mysticism  may 
be  made  sufficiently  exact  to  give  a  good  working  knowl- 
edge of  it  in  lack  of  accurate  scientific  definition.  Thus 
Vaughan  2  says :  "  Philosophers  and  monks  alike  employ 
the  word  mysticism  and  its  cognate  terms  as  involving 
the  idea  not  merely  of  initiation  into  something  hidden,3 
but  beyond  this  of  an  internal  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
to  the  intuition,  or  in  the  feeling,  of  the  secluded  soul." 
Clarke,4  greatly  influenced  by  Vaughan,  puts  the  matter 
rather  more  simply  thus :  "  The  belief  that  man  can 
come  into  union  with  the  Infinite  Being  by  means  of  a 
wholly  passive  self  surrender  to  divine  influence."  And 
Preger 5  has  it :  "  The  characteristic  of  mysticism  is 

1  For  Mysticism  I  have  derived  most  help  from  the  following 
works :  R.  Vaughan's  Hours  with  the  Mystics;  Ueberweg's  His- 
tory of  Philosophy;  James  Freeman  Clarke's  Events  and  Epochs 
in  Religious  History;  Preger's  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Mystik 
im  Mittelalter.  The  authorities  on  the  history  of  preaching  for 
the  period  also  give  much  that  is  helpful. 

'Hours  with  the  Mystics,  p.  21. 

"The  etymological  meaning  of  the  word. 

*  Events  and  Epochs  of  Rel.  Hist.,  p.  276. 

6  Geschichte  der  Mystik,  Bd.  I.,  S.  8.  "  Das  Character! stiche  der 
Mystik  ist,  dass  sie  ein  unmittelbares  Erleben  und  Schauen  des 
Gottlichen  anstrebt." 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR  SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     267 

that  it  strives  after  an  immediate  experience  and  vision 
of  the  Divine."  In  mysticism  three  forms,  more  or 
less  allied  to  each  other,  are  to  be  distinguished.  Vaughan 
calls  them  "  theopathetic,  theosophic,  and  theurgic ;  "  and 
Clarke,  "  religious,  philosophic,  and  thaumaturgic." 
More  simply,  these  distinctions,  which  cannot  be  exact, 
indicate  that  the  central  position  of  mysticism  has  three 
ways  of  expressing  itself:  (i)  an  immediate  intuition  of 
truth — philosophic  or  speculative  mysticism;  (2)  an  im- 
mediate dealing  of  the  soul  with  God — religious  mysti- 
cism; (3)  by  virtue  of  these,  the  ability  to  perform 
miraculous  or  at  least  extraordinary  works — wonder- 
working mysticism.  The  philosophic  or  speculative 
mystic  sees  truth  not  by  logical  processes  but  by  direct 
vision,  in  some  ecstasy  of  high  and  intense  thinking; 
the  religious  mystic  knows  and  realizes  God  not  by  in- 
vestigation and  reasoning,  and  not  by  external  means  of 
any  sort,  but  by  rapt  contemplation,  by  complete  sur- 
render of  self  to  divine  influence;  the  wonder-working 
mystic  claims,  by  virtue  of  this  supernatural  indwelling  of 
truth  or  of  God,  the  power  to  exert  extraordinary  in- 
fluences upon  the  minds  and  even  the  bodies  of  others. 
The  last  phase  has  perhaps  fewer  representatives,  and  is 
more  commonly  regarded  as  extreme,  fanatical,  and  vul- 
gar; but  in  its  less  extreme  and  objectionable  forms  is 
allied  sometimes  to  the  philosophic  but  more  naturally 
and  commonly  to  the  religious  sort  of  mysticism.  The 
philosophic  and  religious  types  easily  pass  into  each 
other;  what  particular  form  mysticism  takes  simply  de- 
pends on  whether  the  mystic  is  himself  rather  a  philoso- 
pher or  a  religionist.  Thus  Fichte  and  Emerson  are 
philosophic  mystics;  Tauler  and  George  Fox  religious 
ones;  while  in  Eckhart  and  Behmen  the  two  strains  are 
fused.  Let  us  repeat  then,  that  in  religious  mysticism 
the  essential  thing  is  the  avowed  consciousness  of  an 
immediate  dealing  of  the  soul  with  God;  a  surrender  of 
self,  a  possession  by  God;  a  complete  union  with  God, 
or  fullness  of  God. 

What  has  been  said  shows  how  perilous  it  is  either  to 
deny  wholly  or  to  accept  without  qualification  the  central 
position  of  mysticism.  That  it  contains  truth  is  just 
as  clear  as  that  it  is  not  all  or  solely  truth.  To  deny 


268  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

it  wholly  is  to  blind  the  soul  to  one  of  its  highest 
privileges,  to  accept  it  solely  is  to  fall  into  fatal  error. 
For  in  some  phase  or  degree  mysticism  may  be  con- 
nected with  the  holiest  piety,  or  with  the  grossest  sins; 
with  the  best  and  most  fruitful  religious  activities,  or 
with  the  idlest  and  most  insane  speculations;  with  en- 
during and  beneficent  labors  and  services  in  the  kingdom 
of  God,  or  with  lasting  injuries  to  the  cause  of  true 
religion;  with  reverent  acceptance  of  the  Bible  as  au- 
thoritative revelation  from  God,  or  with  a  qualified 
acceptance  of  it  admitting  of  correction  by  the  inner 
light,  or  even  at  last  to  utter  rejection  of  it  as  a  divine 
message,  and  the  substitution  of  the  vagaries  of  an 
unbalanced  mind. 

The  errors  and  exaggerations  of  the  mystical  tendency 
in  the  religious  life  may  well  make  us  wary  of  its  one- 
sided and  extreme  phases,  but  the  element  of  truth  in 
it  keeps  it  alive.  Both  those  who  hail  its  extremes  as 
new  truth  and  those  who  dread  them  as  new  error  need 
the  historic  perspective.  For  in  all  centuries  Christian- 
ity in  general,  and  preaching  in  particular,  have  profited 
by  the  good  and  suffered  by  the  evil  of  mysticism. 

It  may  be  a  question  whether  mysticism  has  had  its 
chief  seat  of  power  in  the  cloister,  the  school,  or  the 
pulpit;  but  it  unquestionably  powerfully  influenced  the 
last  through  the  other  two. 

The  mystical  yearning  both  led  to  the  cloister  and 
was  strengthened  and  encouraged  there.  The  contem- 
plative life,  the  study  of  Scripture,  the  prayers  and  other 
influences  of  convent  life  were  favorable  to  its  develop- 
ment. Hence  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  most 
of  the  mystic  preaching  was  given  in  the  monasteries, 
and  that  most  of  the  mystical  preachers  were  trained  in 
them.  From  early  times  the  monastic  life  had  thus  laid 
its  moulding  hand  on  the  pulpit,  and  the  powerful  im- 
pulse given  to  monasticism  by  Bernard  in  the  twelfth 
century  and  by  Francis  and  Dominic  in  the  thirteenth, 
and  the  high  place  held  by  all  three  of  these  men  in  the 
pulpit,  had  great  effect  in  enlarging  the  influence  of 
monastic  mysticism  upon  the  preaching  of  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries.  Nor  must  the  influence  of  the 
other  monastic  orders  be  forgotten.  Benedictines,  Au- 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     269 

gustinians,  Praemonstrants,  and  others  had  something  to 
do  with  the  extension  of  mysticism. 

And  here  we  must  notice  another  important  and  help- 
ful force  in  developing  and  spreading  mystical  views, 
that  is,  the  nunneries,  and  the  pious  women  both  within 
and  without  these  institutions.  Mysticism  has  large 
affinities  with  the  feminine  nature,  and  it  is  not  at  all 
surprising  to  find  that  some  of  its  most  distinguished 
representatives  and  teachers  in  all  its  phases  and  during 
all  its  history  have  been  women.  It  does  not  fall  within 
the  scope  of  this  treatise  to  discuss  this  interesting  phase 
of  the  subject  at  any  length.  But  Preger  *  has  shown 
that  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  along  the 
Rhine  and  in  the  Netherlands — not  to  speak  of  other  lo- 
calities— in  the  cloisters  and  out  of  them  numbers  of 
mystical  women  lived  and  worked.  Hildegard  of  Bingen, 
Elizabeth  of  Schonau;  the  Beguines,  Mary  of  Oigny, 
Matilda  of  Magdeburg;  the  nun  Gertrude,  and  others 
are  mentioned  as  influential  in  one  way  and  another  in 
promoting  the  spread  of  mysticism.  Ecstasies  and 
prophecies,  nervous  faints,  excess  of  feeling,  profuse 
weeping  and  various  other  such  phenomena,  were  fre- 
quent characteristics  of  the  feminine  religious  life  of  the 
period.  All  this  prepared  the  audiences  to  listen  with 
sympathy  and  appreciation  to  the  sermons  of  the  mys- 
tic preachers.  In  fact,  many  of  the  sermons  of  this 
tendency,  both  Eckhart's  and  Tauler's,  were  actually 
preached  in  the  nunneries,  and  we  owe  their  preservation 
to  the  insight,  sympathy,  and  skill  of  the  pious  women 
who  reported  and  wrote  them  out. 

In  the  schools  as  well  as  the  cloisters  mysticism  had 
a  place  of  power  from  which  it  greatly  and  permanently 
influenced  the  pulpit.  Many  of  these  schools  were 
cloister  schools,  and  the  most  distinguished  teachers  were 
members  of  some  one  of  the  orders.  It  is  scarcely  a  dis- 
tinction therefore  to  separate  the  school  from  the  cloister, 
except  that  it  gives  us  occasion  to  note  the  specifically 
scholastic  and  speculative  bent  which  was  given  to  the 
mystic  trend  of  thought  in  the  hands  of  professors. 
Among  these  the  names  of  Hugo  and  Richard  come  up 
for  mention  again,  as  these  distinguished  lecturers  ex- 

1  Op.  cit.,  SS.  13-141. 


270  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

pounded  their  systems  at  the  abbey  of  St.  Victor  at  Paris 
in  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  thirteenth  the  renowned 
teacher,  Albert  the  Great,  at  Cologne  and  Paris,  paid 
much  attention  to  the  mystic  element  in  religious  thought, 
and  through  his  widespread  influence  many  preachers 
of  the  Dominican  order  became  devoted  to  this  way  of 
thinking.  The  greatest  of  the  scholastics,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  also  incidentally  gave  some  teaching  in  this 
direction.  In  life,  and  probably  in  preaching,  the  mystic 
element  was  more  decided  than  in  his  rigorously  logical 
theological  system;  but  even  there  it  was  not  wholly 
wanting,  though  not  emphasized  or  largely  developed. 

After  the  mystics  of  the  twelfth  century  we  do  not 
find  any  distinctly  great  preacher  of  this  tendency  until 
we  come  to  Bonaventura  in  the  thirteenth ;  but  all  along 
there  were  those  whose  preaching  kept  up  the  continuity 
of  mystic  thought.  There  was  lull  but  no  cessation  of 
mystic  preaching  between  Richard  of  St.  Victor .  and 
Bonaventura.  With  the  latter,  however,  there  is  a  re- 
vival of  mysticism  under  the  scholastic  guidance,  and 
after  him  the  work  of  Master  Eckhart  gave  the  start  to 
the  developments  which  followed  and  reached  their 
height  in  those  who  were  taught  or  influenced  by  that 
powerful  teacher. 

Nor  was  it  only  in  the  preachers  of  the  church  and 
its  orders  that  mysticism  was  found.  There  were  various 
heretical  sects  among  whom  the  teachings  flourished, 
and  these  were  represented  by  preachers  as  well  as  writ- 
ers whose  influence  among  the  people  was  considerable.1 
Of  these,  Amalric  of  Bena,  early  in  the  thirteenth  century 
was  largely  influenced  by  Joachim  of  Floris,  and  had 
in  France  a  rather  large  following.  Later,  a  certain 
David  of  Dinant  is  mentioned  as  a  teacher  of  influence, 
and  a  sort  of  society  known  as  "  Brothers  of  the  Free 
Spirit "  became  very  notable  in  the  late  thirteenth  and 
early  fourteenth  centuries.  Thus  in  many  ways  and  from 
many  sources,  mystic  teaching  impresses  itself  upon  the 
preaching  of  the  time,  and  becomes,  though  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  tendencies,  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  pulpit  of  the  period. 

It  is  important  at  this  point  to  consider  how  widely 
1  See  Preger,  Buch  II.,  Kap.  II.,  for  full  discussion. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     271 

extended  this  mystic  preaching  was,  and  what  was  in 
a  general  way  its  character.1 

In  regard  to  extent  it  should  be  observed  that  the 
range  of  the  really  powerful  mystic  preaching  was  com- 
paratively limited.  The  locality  of  it  was  chiefly  along 
the  Rhine,  on  both  sides,  and  in  the  Netherlands.  Of 
course  it  was  not  confined  to  this  region,  but  here  it  was 
more  in  evidence  and  reached  its  greatest  influence.  As 
to  following,  too,  it  is  from  the  nature  of  the  case  clear 
that  mystic  preaching  can  never  be  so  widely  and  in- 
fluentially  popular  as  that  which  is  less  distinctively 
marked  by  the  peculiar  tenets  of  mysticism.  Partly  the 
lofty  religious  life  which  it  requires  in  its  better  forms, 
partly  the  fanatical  or  at  least  overwrought  phases  of 
it  in  its  less  balanced  forms,  and  partly  the  difficulty  of 
comprehending  it  in  all  its  forms,  make  mysticism  always 
the  profession  of  the  few,  rather  than  of  the  many.  In 
comparison  then  with  the  mighty  scholastic  and  popular 
preachers  of  the  age  the  mystics  had  smaller  audiences, 
more  select,  most  usually  those  already  Christian,  and  a 
far  less  extensive  range  of  influence. 

The  particular  teachings  of  the  different  mystic 
preachers  can  be  better  exhibited  in  discussing  the  men 
themselves,  but  before  that  a  remark  on  the  general  char- 
acter of  mystic  preaching  is  requisite.  Its  one  distinctive 
common  trait  was  the  doctrine  of  a  union  of  the  soul  with 
God.  This  was  the  goal  of  all  mystic  preaching.  The 
steps  by  which  this  fusion  of  the  divine  and  human  were 
to  be  attained  might  be  differently  described  and  named, 
the  very  nature  of  the  things  in  question  might  be  dif- 
ferently stated,  and  the  results  of  the  union  differently 
set  forth,  but  this  one  great  idea  of  immediate  intercourse 
of  the  Christian  soul  with  God  underlies  all  the  mystic 
preaching.  It  was  this  noble  aim  which  gave  and  still 
gives  to  mystic  teaching  its  power;  and  if  this  general 
statement  were  all,  it  might  well  be  left  unchallenged. 
But  when  we  come  to  details  we  see  how  in  enforcing 
its  greatest  thought  the  mystic  preaching  became  im- 

1  Besides  the  books  on  Mysticism  in  general,  those  of  Linsen- 
mayer,  Cruel,  and  Albert  discuss  its  particular  relation  to  preach- 
ing— Linsenmayer  of  course  from  the  Catholic  point  of  view. 
The  Protestant  writers,  including  Preger,  find  in  this  mystic 
preaching  an  important  preparation  for  the  Reformation. 


272  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

perilled  and  fell  into  grievous  errors.  For  example,  the 
doctrine  of  the  relation  between  God  and  man  in  the 
hands  of  Eckhart  and  his  followers  came  so  near  to 
pantheism  that  the  students  of  his  system,  then  and  still, 
have  been  divided  in  opinion  as  to  whether  it  was  or 
was  not  really  pantheistic  teaching.  Again,  the  emphasis 
upon  personal  experience  and  individual  dealing  directly 
with  God  led  (and  still  leads)  to  undervaluing  of  the 
Bible  as  the  one  authoritative  revelation  of  the  mind  and 
will  of  God  in  regard  to  salvation ;  and  naturally  this  led 
to  erroneous  treatment  of  many  of  the  most  important 
doctrines  of  the  Scripture,  especially  those  relating  to 
sin  and  redemption.  Again,  a  peril  of  the  mystic  preach- 
ing which  was  not  always  successfully  avoided  lay  in  such 
insistence  upon  passivity,  as  the  condition  of  the  mystic 
union  with  God  as  to  end  in  sloth.  Not  in  Bernard,  nor  in 
Tauler,  nor  in  those  like  them,  do  we  find  this  mistake; 
but  in  others  there  are  traces  of  laying  stress  upon  the 
contemplative  life  to  the  injury  of  the  active. 

The  differences  which  prevailed  among  the  mystics 
themselves  in  regard  to  the  details  of  their  general 
system  have  already  been  foreshadowed  and  lead  to  a 
clear  though  not  sharply  defined  classification.  Those 
who  adhered  to  the  church  theology  and  the  scholastic 
method,  like  the  Victorines,  Albert  and  Bonaventura,  are 
properly  called  scholastic  mystics.  Those  who  followed 
the  powerful  lead  of  Eckhart  in  using  the  church  doc- 
trines and  the  Bible  itself  only  as  starting  points  for  pro- 
found speculations,  growing  chiefly  out  of  personal  ex- 
perience, are  rightly  named  speculative  mystics.  And 
those  who,  like  Bernard,  Francis,  and  Tauler,  combined, 
both  in  theory  and  life,  lofty  mystical  aspirations  with 
active  earnest  work  for  the  souls  of  men,  are  suitably 
described  as  practical  mystics.  But  to  get  a  more  definite 
and  concrete  view  of  the  mystic  preaching  of  the  period 
we  must  consider  it  as  set  forth  in  the  lives  and  works 
of  its  representative  men. 

3.    LEADING  PREACHERS  OF  THE  MYSTIC  SCHOOL 

Following  the  grouping  just  indicated  we  notice  first 
those  who  were  more  distinctly  influenced  by  scholastic 
training  and  modes  of  thought. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     273 

We  have  seen  that  in  Hugh  and  Richard  of  St.  Victor, 
and  later  in  Albert  the  Great  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  there 
was  a  mingling  of  mysticism  and  scholasticism,  with  this 
difference:  that  in  the  first  two  the  mystic  element  pre- 
dominated over  the  scholastic,  while  in  the  other  two, 
the  scholastic  was  supreme,  the  mystic  incidental.  But 
there  was  one  great  preacher  of  the  age  of  whom  it  has 
been  said  that  he  was  "  the  greatest  scholastic  among  the 
mystics  and  the  greatest  mystic  among  the  scholastics." 
This  was  none  other  than  John  Fidanza,  better  known  by 
his  acquired  and  canonized  name  of  Bonaventura  (1221- 
1274). x  The  future  "doctor  seraphicus,"  scholastic, 
mystic,  cardinal  and  saint,  was  born  at  Bagnorea  in  Tus- 
cany in  the  year  1221.  His  parents  were  respectable 
people,  though  not  distinguished.  The  boy  received  his 
father's  name  of  John,  but  his  famous  nickname,  as  he 
himself  relates,  came  to  him  in  the  following  fashion: 
When  he  was  three  years  old  he  fell  ill,  and  his  pious 
mother  sought  in  his  behalf  the  prayers  of  the  saintly 
Francis  of  Assisi,  who  was  at  that  time  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. After  the  child's  recovery  he  was  shown  by  the 
grateful  woman  to  the  holy  man,  who  exclaimed :  "  O 
buona  Ventura"  which  may  be  familiarly  rendered,  "  O 
good  luck."  Henceforth,  as  in  other  instances,  the  nick- 
name has  usurped  the  place  of  the  baptismal  one,  and 
history  knows  the  child  of  St.  Francis'  answered  prayers 
as  Bonaventura. 

The  boy  grew  up  pure  and  pious,  and,  as  was  natural, 
early  entered  the  Franciscan  order.  He  loved  learning 
as  well  as  religion,  and  made  excellent  progress  in  his 
studies.  He  was  sent  to  Paris  and  studied  under  the  re- 
nowned English  scholastic,  the  "  irrefragable  doctor," 
Alexander  Hales,  who  is  said  to  have  remarked  concern- 
ing his  pupil,  "  In  Brother  Bonaventura  Adam  seems  not 
to  have  sinned."  Here  at  the  University  of  Paris  he  met 
the  promising  young  Dominican,  his  fellow  countryman, 
Thomas  of  Aquino,  and  the  two,  though  of  different 
orders,  formed  a  lasting  and  beautiful  friendship.  Their 
lives  were  remarkably  parallel.  Both  became  distin- 

1  Besides  the  authorities  already  named,  Ada  Sanctorum,  July, 
Vol.  III.,  p.  770  ss;  Guillen's  Bibliothtque  des  Peres  de  I'Eglise, 
torn.  25;  Cardinal  Fanna's  Ratio  Nova  Collections  Op.  S,  Bona- 
venturce — a  critical  discussion,  not  an  edition  of  his  works. 


274  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

guished  scholars  and  theologians,  they  took  the  doctor's 
degree  the  same  day,  they  died  the  same  year,  Aquinas 
in  March,  Bonaventura  in  July,  1274;  Aquinas  on  the 
way  to,  and  Bonaventura  at,  the  Council  of  Lyons. 

Bonaventura  was  at  an  early  age  made  general  of  his 
order,  and  filled  various  church  offices  with  success  and 
distinction.  It  is  said  that  he  was  once  offered  the  arch- 
bishopric of  York,  but  declined.  He  was  honored  as  a 
friend  by  the  pious  king  Louis  IX.  of  France,  hailed  by 
admiring  pupils  as  the  "  seraphic  doctor,"  and  not  long 
before  his  death  was  made  a  cardinal. 

Numerous  writings  of  Bonaventura  remain,  among 
them  very  many  sketches  of  sermons.  The  critics,  of 
course,  reject  some  of  these,  but  enough  of  them  may 
be  accepted  as  genuine  x  to  give  such  a  basis  of  judg- 
ment as  we  have  in  other  cases.  No  preacher,  as  we 
have  often  to  observe,  can  be  fairly  judged  by  the  mere 
notes  and  outlines  of  his  sermons,  and  yet  they  give  some 
notion  of  his  methods  and  ideas.  From  the  other  works 
of  Bonaventura,  however,  we  may  gather  his  opinions 
on  theology,  and  infer  something  as  to  his  manner  of 
preaching.  The  scholastic  method  and  the  mystic  spirit 
are  clearly  seen.  He  developed  the  mystic  teachings  of 
Bernard  and  the  Victorines.  Like  Richard,  he  held  to 
six  stages  in  the  ascent  of  the  soul  to  the  perfection  of 
union  with  God,  but  he  tried  to  improve  on  Richard  by 
further  distinctions  and  different  statements.  In  some 
of  his  writings  he  represents  three  stages  in  the  Chris- 
tian life:  (i)  Fulfilling  the  requirements  of  the  law; 
(2)  Following  the  spiritual  teachings  of  the  gospel;  (3) 
Attaining  to  blessedness  by  the  six  steps  of  contempla- 
tion. It  would  take  us  too  far  afield  to  go  minutely  into 
these  subtleties.  His  general  position  is  summed  up  by 
Vaughan  2  thus :  "  Bonaventura  resolves  all  science  into 
union  with  God.  The  successive  attainment  of  various 
kinds  of  knowledge  is  in  his  system  an  approximation, 
stage  by  stage,  to  God — a  scaling  of  the  heights  of  illu- 
mination, as  we  are  more  closely  united  with  the  divine 
Word,  the  repertory  of  ideas."  He  is  thus  rather 
Platonic  than  Aristotelian.3  The  Christian  elements  of 

1  See  Fanna,  Ratio  Nova;  Collect.,  etc. 
a  Hours  with  the  Mystics,  p.  149  f. 

8  Cf.  Ueberweg,  Hist.  Philos.,  pp.  433,  453  f. ;  and  Preger,  Bd. 
I.,  S.  251  ff. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      275 

his  system  appear  in  many  ways;  for  example,  the  ulti- 
mate goal,  the  sixth  stage  in  contemplation  of  the  divine, 
is  the  loving  and  reverential  apprehension  of  the  being  of 
God  as  revealed  in  the  blessed  Trinity.  In  speaking  of 
the  corresponding  powers  by  which  man  makes  the  steps 
necessary  to  reach  the  goal  of  union  with  God,  he  says,1 
"  But  these  powers  are  corrupted  by  sin ;  they  must  be 
restored  by  grace,  purified  by  righteousness,  exercised 
by  knowledge  and  perfected  by  wisdom.  Christ  both  is 
and  works  this  fourfold  help,  which  may  be  also  de- 
scribed as  twofold :  grace  and  truth." 

Leaving  Bonaventura's  mysticism  to  the  theologian 
and  philosopher  we  come  to  his  preaching.  The  con- 
temporary accounts  of  his  eloquence  are  numerous  and 
decisive.  He  is  praised  both  as  sermocinator  ad  clerum 
et  pradicator  ad  populum — sermonizer  to  the  clergy  and 
preacher  to  the  people.  He  was  fluent,  ardent,  persuasive. 
The  outlines  of  his  sermons  are  bare,  and  they  illustrate 
the  scholastic  and  allegorical  methods  of  his  time.  One 
example  will  be  enough  to  show  his  manner.  The  text 
is  Isa.  52:13,  "Behold  my  servant  shall  deal  prudently 
(Lat.  intelligent,  shall  understand)  ;  he  shall  be  exalted 
and  extolled,  and  be  very  high."  He  takes  the  text  as 
a  prophecy  and  commendation,  not  of  Christ,  but  arbi- 
trarily of  John  the  Evangelist.  The  outline  is  as  follows : 
John  is  here  commended:  I.  For  the  holiness  of  an  ex- 
cellent life,  in  the  words,  "  My  servant."  2.  For  the 
clearness  of  his  knowledge — "  Shall  understand."  3. 
For  the  excellency  of  his  doctrine — "  Shall  be  exalted 
and  extolled,  and  be  very  high."  Now  on  the  basis  of 
his  threefold  intelligence  he  was  raised  to  a  threefold 
dignity:  I.  Apostolic  rank,  because  he  knew  useful 
things;  2.  Prophecy,  because  he  knew  hidden  things;  3. 
Gospel  teaching  (evangelist),  because  he  knew  high 
things.  Hence  he  has  left  us  three  sets  of  works:  I. 
The  Epistles,  as  a  preacher;  2.  The  Apocalypse,  as  a 
prophet ;  3.  The  Gospel,  as  a  scribe. 

So  much  for  the  scholastic ;  the  mystic  is  revealed  in 
the  following  quotation  2  from  a  sermon  on  the  Passion 
of  our  Lord :  "  O  death,  O  passion  of  my  Saviour, 

1  Preger,  op.  cit.,  S.  254. 

2  Guillon,  Bibl.  des  Peres,  torn.  25,  p.  83. 


276  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

source  of  all  good  things.  Here  it  is  death  that  gives 
life,  it  is  wounds  that  heal;  the  blood  bathes  and  puri- 
fies ;  the  opening  of  the  side  unites  hearts.  O  wonderful 
death  which  makes  all  my  joy,  all  my  happiness,  which 
crowns  all  my  wishes !  No ;  I  will  no  longer  be  separated 
from  my  Jesus;  there  is  no  felicity  but  in  being  with 
him.  I  will  prepare  myself  three  retreats;  one  in  the 
wounds  of  his  hands,  another  in  that  of  his  feet,  the  third 
(Ah!  this  will  be  the  one  where  I  shall  fix  my  abode) 
will  be  in  his  side.  There  I  will  speak  to  his  heart ;  there 
I  shall  obtain  the  accomplishment  of  all  my  desires.  So, 
more  and  more,  will  I  imitate  his  most  holy  mother, 
whose  soul  was  torn  by  the  sword  of  the  passion  of  her 
Son.  O  wounds  of  Jesus  my  Saviour !  O  dwelling  full 
of  charms!  With  what  delights,  think  you,  should  be 
flooded  the  soul  which  by  these  sacred  doors  enters  into 
the  heart  of  Jesus  Christ?  which  attaches,  closely  unites 
itself,  unchangeably,  to  that  divine  heart?  Nay;  I  cannot 
express  it !  Make  you  trial  of  it !  That  is  the  only  means 
of  knowing  it !  " 

The  older  school  of  churchly  scholastic  mysticism, 
adhering  stanchly  to  the  Catholic  traditional  orthodoxy, 
and  developing  its  views  in  the  dialectic  method  of  the 
schools,  reached  its  height  and  its  end  in  Bonaventura. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  we  find  a  pow- 
erful mind,  a  thinker  of  a  new  order,  who  is  less  careful 
of  dialectic  distinction  and  logical  form  and  minute 
analysis,  and  is  less  concerned  to  use  these  in  order  to 
harmonize  his  views  either  with  the  established  dogmas 
of  the  church  or  with  the  real  meaning  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  experience  of  the  individual  soul  in  its  dealing  with 
God  comes  to  the  fore  as  a  source  and  criterion  of  truth 
and  knowledge,  and  henceforth  we  have  to  deal  with  a 
new  tendency  in  the  philosophy  and  theology  of  Europe. 
This  tendency  is  represented  in  those  whom  we  have 
called  speculative  mystics. 

The  leader  of  these  was  the  celebrated  Master  Eck- 
hart  (c.  I2(5o-c.  I327).1  What  is  known  and  inferred 
as  to  his  life  can  be  told  in  few  words.  There  is  some 
uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  dates  of  his  birth  and  death, 

1  For  studies  of  Eckhart  see  Vaughan,  Preger  and  the  historians 
of  German  preaching  before  cited. 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     277 

but  it  is  inferred  that  he  was  born  about  1260.  He  was 
a  native  of  Thuringia  in  the  neighborhood  of  Strasburg. 
He  early  joined  the  Dominicans  and  went  to  the  famous 
school  at  Cologne  for  his  education.  Preger  thinks  it 
unlikely  that  Albert  the  Great  was  still  living,  but  the 
spirit  and  methods  of  that  great  teacher  were  still  domi- 
nant there,  for  if  he  had  died  before  Eckhart  came  it 
was  shortly  before. 

Eckhart  also  studied  and  lectured  for  awhile  at  Paris, 
where  he  got  his  degree  of  Master  about  1302,  it  seems 
by  some  special  influence  of  Boniface  VIII.  In  1304  he 
was  made  provincial  of  his  order  for  Saxony,  and  three 
years  later  vicar-general  for  Bohemia,  and  was  clothed 
with  authority  to  institute  needed  reforms  in  the  con- 
vents of  that  region.  He  lectured  and  preached  with 
great  power  in  different  parts  of  Germany,  and  made  a 
second  stay  in  Paris.  Later  he  was  prior  at  Frankfort 
on  the  Main,  and  provincial  at  Cologne,  where  he  taught 
in  the  famous  Dominican  school  and  had  many  pupils. 

He  was  much  loved  and  admired  by  his  pupils,  and 
his  moral  influence  over  them  was  great  and  salutary. 
He  was  very  devout,  and  pure  beyond  suspicion  or  blame. 
He  says  once  that  he  "  baptized  himself  seven  times  a 
day  in  the  blood  of  Christ,"  and  gives  the  prayer  he  was 
accustomed  to  repeat.  It  is  full  of  humility,  confession  of 
sin  and  pleading  for  cleansing.  He  mentions  as  one  of 
the  most  precious  gifts  of  grace  to  him  that  he  had  been 
freed  from  carnal  desires.  The  enemies  who  resented 
his  discipline,  and  later  attacked  his  teachings,  could 
bring  no  charge  against  the  uprightness  and  purity  of  his 
conduct.  But  many  of  his  teachings  were  very  strange, 
hard  to  understand,  and  often  utterly  out  of  harmony 
with  received  opinions.  Moreover  there  were  mystic 
teachers  of  heresy  in  the  neighborhood,  and  Eckhart 
seemed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  them  both  personally  and 
in  his  teaching.  So  it  came  about  that  charges  of  heresy 
were  made  against  him  at  the  instance  of  his  bishop. 
Nicholas  of  Strasburg,  a  brother  Dominican  and  himself 
a  mystic,  was  appointed  by  the  pope  to  look  into  the  mat- 
ter. As  was  natural,  Eckhart  was  acquitted.  But  the 
bishop  was  not  satisfied  and  renewed  the  charge,  so  that 
a  new  process  was  instituted  in  1327.  Eckhart  made  an 


278  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

explanation,  saying  that  he  had  not  meant  to  teach 
contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  that  he  was 
misunderstood  on  some  points  and  misrepresented  on 
others,  and  was  open  to  conviction  if  he  could  be  proved 
wrong.  The  bishop  had  therefore  to  refer  the  case  to 
the  pope,  and  while  it  was  pending  before  the  papal  curia 
Eckhart  died,  probably  in  1327  or  1328. 

After  his  death,  in  the  year  1329,  a  papal  bull  was 
published  condemning  seventeen  propositions  from  Eck- 
hart's writings  and  laying  eleven  more  under  suspicion 
of  heresy.  Eckhart's  explanatory  and  conditional  state- 
ment was  interpreted  to  be  an  unconditional  retraction 
of  these  specified  teachings.  So  the  Catholic  writers 
declared  that  he  recanted  his  errors  and  died  in  full  or- 
thodoxy; but  Preger  and  other  Protestant  writers  hold 
that  he  never  did  recant  the  essential  teachings  of  his 
books,  but  only  professed  a  willingness  to  be  convinced  of 
his  error. 

The  essence  of  Eckhart's  system  was  the  "  mystical 
union  "  with  God.  This  he  represented  in  such  terms 
as  practically  amount  to  an  identification  of  the  soul  with 
God.  Thus  he  says :  *  "  He  who  standeth  at  all  times 
in  a  present  Now,  in  him  doth  God  the  Father  bring 
forth  his  Son  without  ceasing."  "  In  every  man  who 
hath  utterly  abandoned  self  God  must  communicate  him- 
self according  to  all  his  power,  so  completely  that  he 
retains  nothing  in  his  life,  in  his  essence,  in  his  nature, 
in  his  Godhead."  In  other  words,  God  is  humanized  in 
the  mystic,  and  so  the  mystic  becomes  divine.  Further: 
"  God  and  I  are  one  in  knowing.  God's  essence  is  his 
knowing,  and  God's  knowing  makes  me  to  know  him. 
Therefore  is  his  knowing  my  knowing.  The  eye  whereby 
I  see  God  is  the  same  eye  whereby  he  seeth  me.  My  eye 
and  the  eye  of  God  are  one  eye,  one  vision,  one  knowl- 
edge, and  one  love."  These  daring  and  obscure  utter- 
ances can  be  matched  with  many  similar  ones.  It  is  true 
that  on  the  other  hand  many  noble  sayings  and  true 
thoughts  are  to  be  found,  for  example :  "  Good  works 
do  not  make  holiness;  it  is  holiness  that  makes  good 
works."  Yet  it  does  not  seem  possible  to  acquit  him  of 
pantheistic  speculations,  of  extreme  and  misleading 
1  Quotations  are  from  Vaughan. 


THE  CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,  OR  SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     279 

statements,  and  of  exalting  too  much  the  individual  ex- 
perience as  authority.  Along  with  this,  his  use  of  Scrip- 
ture is  even  more  free  and  sophistical  than  that  of  the 
scholastics.  It  must  mean  what  he  says.  And  his  con- 
ception of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  grace  is  essen- 
tially defective.  Sin,  repentance,  faith  unto  salvation, 
find  little  place  in  his  system.  He  preached  mostly  to 
monks  and  nuns  urging  those  who  are  already  converted 
to  attain  to  fullness  of  union  with  God. 

One  of  the  most  notable  pupils  of  Eckhart  was  Henry 
Suso,  or  Seuse  (1295-1366).  He  was  born  near  Con- 
stance toward  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century.  His 
father  was  a  knight  and  worldly,  his  mother  a  pious 
woman  of  the  sentimental  type.  The  union  was  incon- 
gruous and  unhappy;  and  the  boy  was  like  his  mother 
and  much  influenced  both  by  her  nature  and  training. 
He  was  placed  quite  young  in  the  Dominican  cloister  at 
Constance,  after  his  father  had  given  up  all  hopes  of 
making  a  knight  of  him.  Here  for  years  he  went  through 
a  series  of  mental  sufferings  and  self-imposed  bodily 
tortures,  seeking  peace.  Meantime  his  studies  went  on, 
some  of  Eckhart's  writings  came  into  his  hands,  and  he 
was  after  a  while  sent  to  Cologne,  where  he  enjoyed 
immediate  instruction  from  the  celebrated  Master.  He 
became  thoroughly  imbued  with  Eckhart's  teachings,  and 
secretly  carried  on  much  of  the  asceticism  that  he  had 
practised  in  his  cloister.  It  was  not  until  his  fortieth 
year  that  he  abandoned  this  extreme  rigidity  of  asceti- 
cism, and  then  because  in  an  illness  he  came  to  see  that 
it  was  endangering  his  life.  Yet  he  did  not  regret  hav- 
ing thus  broken  himself  in. 

He  filled  various  positions  in  his  order  at  different 
places,  suffered  some  persecution  for  supposed  heretical 
views,  and  was  accused  of  other  things — unjustly — and 
made  to  suffer  much.  The  trouble  between  pope  and 
emperor,  and  the  laying  of  the  land  under  interdict  was 
a  sore  trial  to  the  cause  of  religion.  Suso  was  of  those 
who  sympathized  with  the  pope,  and  owing  to  the  em- 
peror's threats  the  monastery  at  Constance,  where  he 
was  teaching,  was  virtually  broken  up,  the  monks  driven 
away.  During  his  exile  he  was  frequently  travelling  and 
preaching  in  those  parts  of  Germany  where  he  could 


280  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

safely  do  so.  In  1346  some  relaxation  in  the  persecu- 
tion made  it  possible  to  reopen  the  convent  at  Constance, 
and  Suso  returned,  only  after  a  while  to  be  hurt  in  soul 
and  reputation  by  a  false  accusation  of  improper  rela- 
tions with  an  evil  woman.  But  he  lived  down  the  slander, 
and  was,  in  1348,  sent  by  his  superiors  to  Ulm,  where 
he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life. 

In  his  teachings  he  made  no  advance  on  Eckhart  as 
to  substance  of  thought.  His  views  and  methods  were 
substantially  the  same  as  his  master's.  But  he  was  a 
more  popular  preacher  than  Eckhart.  While  his  soft 
and  sentimental  nature  made  him  the  idol  of  the  nun- 
neries and  of  the  devout  women  in  all  ranks,  he  was  yet 
an  acceptable  and  moving  preacher  before  the  people. 
Not  many  of  his  sermons  have  come  down  to  us,  but  they 
show  the  same  doctrine  as  his  more  extended  writings 
and  exhibit  traces  which  sustain  his  traditional  reputation 
for  eloquence. 

Among  the  numerous  followers  of  Eckhart's  teaching 
we  find  the  name  of  a  certain  John  of  Sterngassen.  This 
latter  designation  was  taken  from  a  street  or  quarter 
of  Strasburg,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  he  was 
born  or  lived  in  that  city.  He  was  a  preacher  of  con- 
siderable power  and  was  lector,  or  teacher,  in  Stras- 
burg about  1318  to  1323.  He  was  a  thoroughgoing  dis- 
ciple of  Eckhart,  and  went  even  further  than  he  *  in 
using  Scripture  merely  as  a  starting  point  for  mystical 
and  experimental  speculations.  One  of  his  sayings, 
quoted  from  Preger,2  may  give  a  taste  of  his  mystical 
quality:  "What  in  God  is  a  working  [or  doing],  that 
must  be  in  me  a  feeling  [i.e.,  a  passive  feeling,  Leiden]  ; 
what  in  God  is  a  speaking,  that  must  be  in  me  a  hearing ; 
what  in  God  is  a  picturing  [Bilden],  that  must  be  in 
me  a  beholding.  All  that  God  can  do,  that  can  the 
soul  feel." 

Bernard,  Francis,  Bonaventura  even,  have  shown  us 
how  the  mystical  type  of  thought  and  life  could  be  held 
along  with  active  and  fruitful  effort  for  the  salvation  of 
men ;  and  how  popular  preaching  might  be  when  colored 
by  mystic  thought.  This  is  no  unusual  phenomenon  in  the 
history  of  mystic  views,  and  finds  excellent  illustration 
*  Albert,  op.  cit.,  sec.  21.  *  Op.  cit.,  S.  245. 


THE  CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,  OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE     281 

in  the  lives  and  works  of  the  preachers  we  have  now 
to  consider,  the  practical  mystics. 

We  have  already  met  with  David  of  Augsburg  as  the 
teacher,  friend,  and  companion  of  Berthold  of  Regens- 
burg.1  But  he  was  also  something  on  his  own  account. 
He  was  a  preacher  to  the  people;  and  as  Albert  had 
through  his  pupils  given  mysticism  a  great  impulse  in 
Germany,  so  David  by  his  writings,  preaching,  and  in- 
fluence did  very  much  to  make  the  German  language  the 
instrument  of  communicating  religious  instruction.  His 
treatises  are  regarded  as  among  the  best  specimens  of 
early  German  prose.  Little  is  known  of  his  life,  but  the 
fact  of  his  being  called  after  Augsburg  indicates  that 
that  city  was  his  birthplace,  or  for  a  time  his  residence. 
He  lived  a  longer  time  at  Regensburg  in  the  Franciscan 
monastery,  where  he  was  teacher  of  the  novices,  and  as 
such  instructed  Berthold.  After  this  he  was  again  in 
Augsburg,  where  he  ended  his  days.  A  contemporary 
writer 2  says,  "  In  addressing  sermons  to  the  people  he 
was  of  an  excellent  genius."  But  in  his  gentler  and 
easier  nature  he  lacked  the  fire  and  power  of  his  more 
famous  pupil  Berthold.  No  specimens  of  his  German 
sermons  have  yet  come  to  light,  but  his  Latin  sketches 
and  German  writings  indicate  in  his  mystic  teachings 
the  influence  of  Augustine,  Bernard,  Hugo  and  Richard 
of  St.  Victor.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  was  also  in- 
fluenced by  the  prevalent  mysticism  among  the  devout 
women  of  his  region,  for  he  explains  the  nervous  and 
overwrought  feelings  which  were  common,  as  indications 
that  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  may  be  too  much  for 
the  bodily  nature  to  stand.  He  clearly  teaches  the  "  mys- 
tic union  "  with  God  as  the  goal  of  the  soul's  endeavor. 
Preger  gives  the  following  verse  of  a  poem,  not  David's 
but  current  in  his  time,  as  expressive  of  the  mystic  feel- 
ing toward  God : 

Flieh  ich  von  dir,  Flee  I  from  thee, 

Du  kommst  zu  mir.  Comest  thou  to  me. 

Verlass  ich  mich,  Losing  myself, 

So  find  ich  dich,  I  find  thyself, 

O  uberwesentliches  Gut !      O  superessential  Good ! 

Contemporary  with  Eckhart  was  a  certain  Nicholas 

1  See  ante,  p.  256  f. ;  and  Preger,  op.  cit.,  S.  268  ff. 

2  Quoted  by  Preger,  /.  c. 


282  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

of  Strasburg.  He  it  was  who,  being  charged  by  the 
pope  with  the  first  trial  of  Eckhart,  acquitted  him.  He 
is  also  called  "  Brother  Nicholas  who  was  lector  at 
Cologne,"  but  when  and  how  long  does  not  appear. 
Involved  with  Eckhart,  he,  too,  was  under  process  for 
heresy  at  Eckhart's  second  trial,  but  must  have  been 
leniently  dealt  with,  probably  for  reasons  of  policy. 
Thirteen  of  his  sermons  and  sketches  have  been  printed, 
and  there  are  more  in  manuscript.  He  is  mystical,  but 
by  no  means  so  scholastic  as  Bonaventura  nor  so  deep 
and  speculative  as  Eckhart.  His  aim  is  practical,  his 
audiences  popular,  his  style  lively  and  picturesque.  Of 
course  he  handles  the  Bible  in  the  current  arbitrary  fash- 
ion; but,  like  other  popular  and  practical  preachers,  he 
teaches  the  worthlessness  of  works  as  a  means  of 
salvation,  preaches  .repentance,  and  holds  up  Christ  as 
the  only  Saviour.  The  following  story,  quoted  in  several 
of  the  books  from  one  of  his  sermons,  illustrates  not 
only  his  individual  method,  but  a  style  of  popular  presen- 
tation of  divine  things  which  was  current  in  his  time  and 
later.  After  having  dwelt  earnestly  on  the  value  of  the 
sufferings  of  Christ  on  our  behalf,  he  suddenly  takes  this 
turn :  "  Now  we  must  learn  to  climb  up  on  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  who  are  the  right  sort  of 
tree  climbers?  It  is  they  who  place  their  love  and  de- 
sires nowhere  else,  and  seek  their  joy  and  their  comfort 
nowhere  else  than  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  in  his  precious  worthy  passion.  I  will  give  you  an 
illustration.  Once  a  cat  and  a  fox  were  taking  a  walk 
together  in  a  field.  The  fox  said,  '  Mrs.  Cat,  what  can 
you  do  ?  '  The  cat  said,  '  I  can  climb  trees.'  '  Oho ! '  said 
the  fox,  '  what  a  fine  art  is  that.'  Then  said  the  cat,  '  Mr. 
Fox,  what  can  you  do  ? '  '  To  be  sure,'  said  he,  '  I  can 
do  great  things,  and  have  a  whole  sack  full  of  arts;  if 
once  I  untie  it  nobody  can  equal  me.'  While  they  were 
thus  talking  there  came  greyhounds  that  were  about  to 
catch  the  fox.  The  cat  ran  up  a  tree,  and  said,  '  Now, 
Mr.  Fox,  untie  your  sack !  It's  time ! '  '  Ah,  Mrs.  Cat/ 
said  the  fox,  '  I  lightly  esteemed  your  art,  but  now  it 
were  dearer  to  me  than  all  the  wisdom  that  ever  I 
learned.' " 

The  application  is  made  to  the  worldly  wise  folks  who 
know  all  manner  of  arts  and  schemes  which  belong  to 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,   AGE      283 

this  world,  yet  when  death  comes  know  not  where  to 
run  for  refuge,  but  the  "  good  people  "  run  to  the  tree 
of  Christ's  cross  and  passion. 

But  the  greatest  preacher  among  the  mystics  of  this 
age  was  the  Strasburg  Dominican,  John  Tauler  (c. 
1 290- 1 36 1 )*  In  order,  however,  better  to  appreciate 
him  and  his  preaching  we  must  take  some  knowledge  of 
his  times.  In  1314  there  was  a  double  election  of  em- 
peror, and  the  allegiance  of  the  Germans  was  divided  be- 
tween Frederick  of  Austria  and  Louis  of  Bavaria.  The 
papacy  became  involved  in  the  quarrel  because  of  the 
appointments  to  church  offices  within  the  German  lands. 
In  the  course  of  the  quarrel  Louis  went  so  far  as  to  set 
up  a  rival  pope  in  his  own  interest,  and  John  XXII.  re- 
torted by  declaring  the  subjects  of  Louis  free  of  their 
allegiance,  and  by  laying  the  imperial  lands  under  the 
terrible  interdict — the  suspension  of  all  religious  func- 
tions. The  sympathies  of  the  German  people  were  di- 
vided, and  the  religious  orders  were  also  of  divergent 
sentiments.  The  Dominicans  outside  of  Germany  were 
strongly  for  the  pope,  and  a  general  chapter  of  the  order 
had  enjoined  the  members  to  respect  the  interdict.  Still 
there  were  some  who  obeyed  the  emperor  rather  than  the 
pope,  and  there  were  others  who  felt  obliged  by  the  em- 
peror's threats  to  leave  their  homes  and  find  refuge  in 
places  where  his  authority  did  not  reach,  or  where  the 
interdict  was  not  so  strictly  enforced. 

In  addition  to  these  political  and  religious  disorders 
there  were  great  distresses  and  disasters — earthquakes, 
floods,  destruction  of  crops  by  grasshoppers,  and  worst 
of  all,  the  plague,  which  appeared  in  1348  and  carried 
off  thousands  of  the  population.  Along  with  all  this 
there  was  frightful  moral  corruption.  Hardened  and  en- 
couraged by  the  dreadful  disorders,  criminals  of  every 
sort  abounded  and  vices  were  unrestrained.  Amid  these 
evils  the  strange  fanatical  sect  of  the  Flagellants  arose. 
Companies  of  people  made  pilgrimages  through  the 
country  praying  and  lashing  themselves  on  the  bare  back 
till  the  blood  ran  down.  As  among  the  people  so  among 

1Very  much  the  same  authorities  for  Tauler  as  for  Eckhart 
and  the  other  mystics.  There  are  numerous  German  and  several 
English  and  American  editions  of  Tauler's  sermons.  Cf.  Broadus, 
H.  P.,  p.  no  ff.,  Ker's  Hist,  of  Preaching,  p.  125  f.?  Pattison's  Hist, 
of  Christian  Preaching,  p.  112  f. 


284  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

the  clergy  there  were,  on  the  one  hand,  the  corrupt  and 
hardened,  who  seemed  to  be  plunged  only  the  deeper  into 
evil  by  the  terrors  of  the  time;  and  there  were  also  the 
pious  and  thoughtful,  who  found  in  these  things  only  a 
louder  call  to  mysticism,  the  devout  and  contemplative 
life,  separation  from  the  world,  hiding  in  God. 

It  was  in  this  time  that  the  saintly  and  faithful  John 
Tauler  lived  and  worked.  He  was  born  of  respectable 
parents  at  Strasburg,  somewhere  between  1290  and 
1300.  Piously  inclined  from  youth,  John  early  entered 
the  Dominican  order  and  pursued  at  Strasburg  and 
Cologne  the  regular  studies  required  for  advancement. 
At  his  home  city  he  no  doubt  heard  both  Eckhart  and 
John  of  Sterngassen  preach,  and  at  Cologne  he  was  most 
probably  a  pupil  of  the  great  master  of  mysticism.  Here 
he  took  the  regular  three  years'  course  of  theological 
study  and  added  an  extra  one  as  candidate  for  the  grade 
of  lector,  or  teacher.  It  was  probably  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year  that  he  was  ordained  and  began  to  preach  and  per- 
form other  priestly  functions  at  Strasburg.  The  city 
of  Strasburg  took  the  emperor's  side  in  the  controversy 
with  the  popes,1  and  lay  under  interdict  from  May,  1329, 
to  about  1353,  though  there  were  relaxations  toward  the 
last  of  the  time;  and,  in  fact,  all  along  the  absolute 
cessation  of  all  religious  functions  could  not  be  enforced, 
because  many  priests  disobeyed.  In  1328  more  rigid 
commands  came  to  enforce  the  interdict,  and  on  the  other 
hand  the  emperor  declared  that  the  priests  should  cele- 
brate the  mass  or  quit  the  country.  Tauler  was  among 
those  who  felt  in  duty  bound  to  obey  the  pope  and  the 
superiors  of  his  order,  though  it  is  not  improbable  that 
his  sympathies  lay  the  other  way.  The  city  of  Basel 
also  sympathized  with  Louis  the  Bavarian,  but  did  not 
go  so  far  as  Strasburg  in  forcing  the  clergy  to  obey 
the  emperor  and  carry  on  the  services.  Hence  many 
found  a  refuge  at  Basel,  where  teaching  in  the  convents 
and  possibly  some  other  duties  were  allowed.  At  any 
rate  we  find  Tauler  at  Basel  for  a  part  of  this  time, 
lecturing  and  preaching  in  the  Dominican  school.  Here 
he  met  friends  of  his  order — Henry  of  Nordlingen,  Suso, 
and  others — who  were  mystics  like  himself,  and  also  came 

1  Though  John  XXII.  died  in  1324  the  fight  was  continued  by  his 
successors. 


THE   CENTRAL    MEDIEVAL,   OR   SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      285 

in  contact  with  the  "  Friends  of  God,"  a  body,  hardly  an 
order,  of  mystics.  Among  others  there  was  a  pious 
woman,  Margaret  Ebner,  whose  influence  and  sympathy 
were  promotive  of  the  mystical  trend  in  Tauler's  life.  It 
was  during  this  time  that  he  established  his  reputation 
as  a  preacher.  The  sermons  of  this  period  are  rather 
of  the  scholastic  sort,  with  much  Latin,  and  directed 
chiefly  to  monks  and  nuns.  But  they  have  earnestness 
and  warmth,  and  attacked  the  faults  of  the  monks  and 
clergy  in  such  downright  fashion  as  already  to  awaken 
hostility. 

Probably  in  1348  Tauler  returned  to  Strasburg, 
whether  as  teacher  in  the  Dominican  school,  or  convent 
preacher,  or  as  "  general  preacher  "  in  the  order,  is  not 
certain.  But  there  was  evidently  some  relaxation  in  en- 
forcing the  interdict,  and  at  Strasburg  the  last  and 
most  fruitful  period  of  his  work  was  accomplished.  His 
preaching  attracted  large  attendance  and  was  doing  much 
good  in  the  stricken  city. 

Now  comes  the  curious  story  of  his  "  conversion  " — 
or  "  second  blessing,"  as  it  would  now  be  called.  The 
story  has  been  attacked  by  Catholic  scholars  on  various 
grounds,  and  is  now  generally  discredited  by  them ; 1  but 
Preger  and  other  Protestants  hold  that  this  is  interested 
criticism,  and  that  the  story  is  substantially  true.  It  is 
to  this  effect :  A  certain  pious  layman  from  the  "  Ober- 
land,"  probably  near  Basel,  who  was  one  of  the  "  Friends 
of  God,"  and  a  mystic,  came  to  Strasburg  to  hear  Tauler, 
being  attracted  by  his  great  fame  as  a  preacher.  After 
hearing  him  several  times  he  sought  an  interview  with  the 
preacher,  and  told  him  that  he  was,  though  preaching  to 
others,  not  yet  himself  fully  enlightened.  He  persuaded 
Tauler  that  he  needed  a  real  experience  of  things  divine, 
a  true  losing  of  himself  in  God,  and  the  like.  Tauler  was 
so  unsettled  by  this  that  under  the  advice  and  help  of  this 
"  Friend  "  he  gave  up  preaching,  sought  retirement,  and 
by  fastings,  penitence,  and  prayers  tried  to  find  this 
"  higher  life."  His  course  was  much  censured  by  his 
friends  as  fanatical,  and  derided  by  his  opponents  as 
folly;  but  he  continued  it  for  about  two  years,  when  he 
reached  the  rest  he  sought,  and  found  a  new  or  at  least 
a  more  vivid  spiritual  life.  He  now  offered  to  preach 

1  Linsenmayer  after  Denifle ;  art.  in  Wetzer  und  Welte,  etc. 


286  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

again  and  was  permitted  to  do  so  in  the  cloister  chapel. 
A  great  crowd  assembled.  But  the  long  trial  had  worn 
his  strength  and  weakened  his  nerves,  so  that  in  standing 
before  the  people  he  broke  into  weeping,  and  could  not 
preach.  After  some  days  a  second  opportunity  came,  and 
this  time  his  word  was  with  such  power  that  men  and 
women  groaned,  wept,  and  fainted  away  in  intense  con- 
cern and  fervor.  From  now  on  a  new  Tauler  preached. 
Sometimes  at  Cologne — where  he  was  sent  by  the  authori- 
ties of  his  order — but  chiefly  at  Strasburg,  in  these  fear- 
ful times  of  corruption,  disorder,  disaster,  and  gloom,  the 
powerful,  pleading  voice  of  this  faithful  witness  was 
heard.  He  spared  nobody's  sins,  he  felt  for  everybody's 
distresses,  a  faithful  prophet,  a  sympathizing  priest.  He 
pointed  one  and  all  to  the  Saviour,  whom  he  himself  found 
the  only  refuge  from  his  own  sins  and  from  the  awful 
evils  of  the  times.  In  such  labors  and  preaching  Tauler's 
last  years  were  spent.  When  his  mortal  sickness  came 
he  received  tender  care  at  the  hands  of  his  own  sister, 
who  Was  prioress  of  a  convent  at  Strasburg,  and  in  a 
house  in  the  garden  of  her  establishment  he  entered  into 
rest,  June  16,  1361. 

A  considerable  number  of  sermons  attributed  to  Tauler 
have  been  printed  in  various  editions.  Some  are  un- 
doubtedly spurious,  and  all  are  reported  by  other  hands 
than  his,  largely  as  in  Eckhart's  case  by  the  nuns  of  the 
convents  where  he  preached.  But  enough  can  be  counted 
really  his  own  to  enable  us  to  find  in  these  sermons  strong 
support  of  the  unanimous  and  cordial  traditional  testi- 
mony as  to  the  power  and  character  of  Tauler's  pulpit 
work.  The  sermons  are  thoroughly  pervaded  by  the  mys- 
tic ideas  and  spirit.  They  are  chiefly  devoted  to  awaken- 
ing the  hearers  to  a  truer  and  purer  Christian  life,  a  real 
union  of  the  soul  with  God.  Incidentally  they  powerfully 
attack  sin  and  call  to  repentance  and  faith,  but  their  main 
purpose  is  to  promote  the  true  life  in  God.  In  use  of 
Scripture  they  are  allegorical  and  free,  as  was  only  too 
common,  but  they  are  more  Scriptural  than  Eckhart's, 
and  far  more  practical.  They  depreciate  dependence  upon 
works,  and  insist  upon  faith  in  Christ  as  the  only  way 
of  salvation.  In  arrangement  they  are  not  at  all  careful 
of  the  scholastic  forms,  and  are  more  like  the  loosely 
constructed  homilies  of  former  times.  In  style  they  are 


THE   CENTRAL   MEDIAEVAL,   OR    SCHOLASTIC,    AGE      287 

lively  and  popular,  full  of  illustration  and  imagery,  fresh, 
piquant,  sometimes  too  coarse  for  the  taste  of  our  times, 
but  impressive  and  acceptable  in  that  age. 

In  tone  and  spirit  Tauler  was  evangelical,  sincere,  lofty, 
and  pure,  appealing  out  of  his  own  experience  of  grace 
for  a  holier  life  and  a  more  real  union  with  God  on  the 
part  of  his  hearers.  All  the  books  quote  Luther's  words 
in  a  letter  to  Spalatin,  in  which  he  warmly  praises  the  ser- 
mons of  Tauler  and  declares  that  in  no  German  nor  Latin 
books  on  theology  had  he  found  so  great  help  as  in  these! 
Altogether,  making  allowance  for  mystical  onesidedness, 
Roman  Catholic  errors,  and  traditional  misuse  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  finding  him  less  deeply  immersed  in  any  and  all 
of  these  than  most  of  his  predecessors  and  contempo- 
raries, we  must  consider  Tauler  one  of  the  most  evangeli- 
cal, devout,  effective  preachers  of  the  age ;  and  one  of  the 
most  worthy  to  be  remembered  with  affection  and  respect 
by  all  ages. 

4.    RETROSPECT  AND  LESSONS  OF  THE  PERIOD 

With  Tauler  we  may  fitly  close  our  study  of  this  cen- 
tral mediaeval  period.  After  him  the  mystical  type  of 
preaching  is  still  found,  as  we  shall  see,  but  the  same  year 
in  which  he  died,  1361,  a  new  voice  is  heard  in  far  away 
England,  and  the  newly  ordained  young  priest,  John 
Wiclif,  sounds  the  first  note  of  a  revolt  from  papacy 
which  is  to  shake  the  world  and  also  make  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  preaching. 

As  we  look  back  over  this  period  and  endeavor  to 
gather  up  some  of  its  lessons  for  our  own  days  we  shall 
find  them  abundant  and  instructive.  The  three  great  lines 
of  thought  and  life  which  we  have  traced  and  studied 
are  in  some  form  essential  and  perpetual.  Thinking,  act- 
ing, feeling;  reasoning,  doing,  brooding;  arguing,  per- 
suading, meditating ;  are  necessary  elements  of  the  work 
of  preaching  in  all  times,  and  for  the  age  we  have  been 
studying  we  have  learned  to  call  them  respectively  scho- 
lastic, popular,  and  mystic  preaching.  Scholasticism  was 
the  effort  to  reach  ultimate  truth  by  reasoning  from  di- 
vinely revealed  doctrines  and  from  ecclesiastically  author- 
ized dogmas  thence  derived.  Its  data  were  insufficient, 
its  method  dry  and  monotonous,  its  processes  subtle  and 
often  sophistical,  and  its  results  unsatisfactory;  but  its 


288  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

grand  aim  was  to  bring,  by  the  highest  and  most  intense 
effort  of  the  spiritually  enlightened  reasoning  powers,  all 
truth  into  systematic  relation  and  then  declare  the  beauti- 
ful harmony  to  the  world.  The  failure  of  scholasticism 
and  the  fault  of  the  preaching  which  it  formed,  show  us 
the  futility  of  supposing  that  all  truth  can  be  derived 
from  a  segment  of  it,  and  that  life  of  any  sort  can  be 
identified  with  a  mode  of  thought.  No  philosophy  is  as 
large  as  truth,  and  no  process  of  thinking  is  the  whole 
of  man's  spiritual  life. 

The  great  popular  preachers  of  the  period  likewise 
bring  us  a  lesson.  And  it  is,  though  partly  both,  rather 
encouragement  than  warning.  The  misuse  of  Scripture, 
the  over  use  of  legendary  material,  and  the  grotesque  and 
often  coarse  methods  employed,  are  the  chief  faults  of 
this  preaching,  and  they  are  serious  ones.  But  its  power 
to  attract  crowds  of  hearers,  and  to  bring  home  to  them, 
with  an  effectiveness  rarely  equalled  and  never  surpassed, 
the  things  which  the  preacher  himself  believed,  may  well 
excite  our  admiration  and  encourage  our  efforts. 

The  mystics  also  teach  us  that  avoiding  the  extremes 
of  supposing  ourselves  one  with  God,  and  therefore  either 
the  infallible  media  of  his  mind  and  will,  or  the  sinless 
temples  of  his  indwelling,  there  is  yet  a  higher  height  of 
communion  with  God  than  we  perchance  have  reached, 
and  a  fuller  fulness  of  truth  than  we  have  yet  experi- 
enced. Perhaps,  too,  by  their  very  errors  they  may  lead 
us  yet  to  learn  that  in  the  true  surrender  of  self  to 
Christ  there  lie  raptures  not  yet  enjoyed,  and  preaching 
power  not  yet  attained. 

And  so  as  we  look  back  through  the  thickening  haze 
of  centuries  upon  the  colossal  figure  of  this  mediaeval 
preaching,  we  see,  in  softened  outlines  and  mellowed 
smoothness,  the  blending  of  elements  that  must  be  con- 
stant in  the  effort  of  the  human  soul  to  see  and  to  preach 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  The  all  but  perfect  preacher 
shall  be  he  who  will  combine  in  consummate  synthesis 
intellectual  power,  popular  eloquence,  and  personal  holi- 
ness— he  in  whom  logic  controls  zeal  and  tempers  piety, 
zeal  respects  logic  and  loves  piety,  and  piety  glorifies 
logic  and  sanctifies  zeal.  This  message  the  thirteenth 
century  brings  to  the  twentieth,  and  alike  by  its  successes 
and  failures  bids  the  preachers  of  to-day  lay  it  well  to  heart. 


PERIOD   IV 

THE    TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY, 

AGE 
1361-1*72 

From  the  times  of  Tauler  and  Wiclif  to  the  death  of  John  Knox. 
the  last  of  the  great  reformers 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  RENAISSANCE,  AND  PREACHING  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH 
AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES 

The  new  period  on  which  we  enter  in  this  chapter  ex- 
tends from  the  death  of  Tauler,  the  greatest  of  the 
mediaeval  mystic  preachers,  to  the  death  of  John  Knox, 
the  last  of  the  great  reformers.  The  characteristics  of 
preaching  with  which  we  have  grown  familiar  in  our 
study  of  the  preceding  period  continued  to  display  them- 
selves, but  with  a  falling  off  both  of  acceptability  and  of 
power.  Already,  as  we  have  seen,  the  scholastic  and 
popular  types  had  begun  to  fall  into  decay,  and  marked 
evidences  of  weakness  in  the  mystic  type  were  also  ap- 
parent. Yet  the  mystic  preaching  showed  more  life  than 
the  other  two  sorts,  and  gave,  especially  in  the  Nether- 
lands and  Germany,  some  help  to  the  rising  power  of 
reformatory  preaching.  So  that  along  with  the  decline 
which  we  have  to  observe  in  the  general  power  of  the  pul- 
pit we  shall  have  to  trace  the  rise  of  that  wave  of  mighty 
reformatory  preaching  which  began  with  Wiclif  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  increased  in  volume 
with  Savonarola  near  the  close  of  the  fifteenth,  and 
reached  its  crest  in  Luther  and  his  fellow  reformers  in 
the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth.  Meantime  the  mediaeval 
traditions  and  methods  were  continued,  but  with  some 
correction  of  more  glaring  faults,  in  the  Catholic  preach- 


2QO  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

ing  of  the  age.  This  period  (1361-1572)  of  about  two 
hundred  years  may  be  appropriately  styled  in  the  history 
of  preaching  the  transitional  or  reformatory  age,  for  it 
marks  the  passage  from  the  traditional  mediaeval  method 
and  spirit  in  the  pulpit  to  those  of  modern  times. 

For  our  studies,  however,  it  will  be  desirable  to  divide 
the  period  into  two  great  epochs :  that  of  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries,  when  the  forces  of  decay  and  re- 
form struggled  side  by  side  in  church  and  pulpit ;  and  that 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  in  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion preaching  reached  its  third  great  historic  culmina- 
tion— the  first  two  being  in  the  fourth  and  in  the  thir- 
teenth centuries  respectively.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the 
general  period,  that  is,  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  the  great  artistic  and  literary  revival  which  is 
called  the  Renaissance  lent  its  influence  to  the  develop- 
ment of  preaching ;  in  the  later  epoch,  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, the  Reformation  was  the  guiding  force.  In  this 
chapter  and  the  next  we  study  the  earlier  epoch. 

i.     EUROPE  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH  AND  FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES 

It  will  be  well  to  recall  some  of  the  more  important 
events  in  the  general  history  of  Europe  before  discussing 
the  social  and  religious  conditions  which  had  a  more 
direct  bearing  upon  the  pulpit  of  the  age. 

We  should  remember  that  in  England  this  was  the  age 
of  the  Edwards  and  Henrys,  of  the  struggle  with  Scot- 
land, of  the  Hundred  Years'  War  with  France,  of  the 
desolating  Wars  of  the  Roses  and  their  close  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.  In  Scotland  the  romantic  age  of  Wallace 
and  Bruce  was  followed  by  the  fatal  accession  of  the 
house  of  Stuart,  of  which  the  fourth  James  was  reigning 
when  the  fifteenth  century  ended.  In  France  the  strug- 
gle with  England  absorbed  the  attention  and  strength  of 
the  nation  for  a  century,  but  under  Charles  VII.  (1422- 
1461),  the  menace  of  subjection  to  a  foreign  power  was  at 
last  removed,  and  France  entered  on  a  new  career  of 
power  and  influence  in  European  affairs.  The  monarchy 
was  strengthened  by  the  arts  and  policy  of  the  cruel  and 
false  but  sagacious  Louis  XL,  whose  two  next  successors 
became  possessed  with  the  dream  of  establishing  French 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          29 1 

power  in  Italy — a  fatal  inheritance  to  Francis  I.  in  the 
next  period.  In  Germany  the  emperor  Charles  IV. 
sought  to  alleviate  the  confusion  and  turmoil  by  pro- 
viding for  a  more  orderly  and  satisfactory  election  of  the 
emperor.  This  he  did  by  putting  forth  in  1356  the  famous 
Golden  Bull  which  vested  the  choice  in  seven  electors, 
four  temporal  and  three  spiritual  lords.  This  arrange- 
ment had  great  effect  on  all  the  subsequent  history  of 
Germany.  The  next  important  emperor  after  Charles  was 
Sigismund,  who  began  to  reign  1410,  and  took  hold  of 
affairs  with  vigor  and  ability.  Under  him  the  famous 
council  of  Constance  was  called,  which  deposed  the  rival 
popes  and  thereby  ended  the  long  schism  in  the  papacy, 
but  alas,  also  condemned  to  death  the  noble  reformer, 
John  Huss,  in  1414.  The  following  emperors  were  not 
able  to  accomplish  much  in  settling  the  distracted  regions 
over  which  they  held  the  nominal  sovereignty.  The  in- 
terests and  jealousies  of  the  various  principalities  and 
cities  were  too  great  a  difficulty  for  the  statesmanship 
of  that  age  to  overcome.  Germany  must  wait  generations 
yet  for  her  political  unity.  And  the  political  chaos  was 
enhanced  by  the  religious  dissensions  which  were  about 
to  bring  in  the  Reformation.  In  the  meantime  we  must 
not  forget  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury the  Swiss  threw  off  the  imperial  yoke  and  founded 
their  sturdy  little  republic. 

The  affairs  of  Italy  and  the  papacy  during  this  period 
were  sad  enough.  The  political  situation  of  Italy  main- 
tained its  old  confusion.  Naples  and  Sicily  constituted 
for  a  time  an  independent  kingdom  striven  for  by  France 
and  Spain,  and  eventually  falling  to  the  latter.  Rome  and 
the  Papal  States  were  in  a  fearful  condition  during  the 
sojourn  of  the  popes  at  Avignon  (1305-1377).  The  two 
noble  houses  of  Colonna  (Ghibelline)  and  Orsini  (Guelf) 
kept  up  a  constant  feud.  In  this  time  the  visionary  Rienzi 
tried  to  restore  the  ancient  Roman  republic  (1347-1354), 
but  his  attempt  failed.  The  turbulent  city  of  Florence 
attained  high  renown  in  arts  and  letters,  but  was  a  prey 
to  many  mutations  in  government.  Likewise  the  cities  of 
Venice,  Genoa,  Milan,  and  other  smaller  principalities, 
shared  in  the  political  unrest  and  disunion.  Not  yet  for 
Italy  was  there  a  gleam  of  national  hope. 


292  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

The  papacy,  too,  was  during  all  this  time  in  a  wretched 
state.  It  will  be  remembered  that  under  French  influence 
in  1305  the  residence  of  the  popes  was  transferred  from 
Rome  to  Avignon  in  France,  where  it  remained  for 
seventy-two  years — the  so-called  "  Babylonian  Captivity." 
Public  opinion  finally  induced  the  pope  to  return  to  Rome 
in  1377.  But  at  the  very  next  election  there  was  a  split. 
The  Italian  cardinals  were  determined,  though  in  the 
minority,  to  have  an  Italian  pope,  and  elected  Urban  VI. 
The  French  cardinals  fled  to  Avignon  and  elected  Clem- 
ent VII.,  who  resumed  residence  there.  And  now  for  a 
generation  the  world  is  favored  with  the  spectacle  of  a 
divided  and  corrupt  papacy.  France  favored  Avignon, 
and  Italy  Rome;  Spain  followed  France,  and  England 
Italy ;  Germany  was  divided.  Efforts  to  heal  the  schism 
were  in  vain  until  the  Council  of  Constance  finally  de- 
posed all — there  were  now  three — of  the  claimants,  and 
declared  Martin  V.  the  rightful  pope  in  1417.  But  the 
end  of  the  schism  brought  no  moral  reform.  The  popes 
that  followed  were  by  no  means  reformers.  Pius  II. 
(yEneas  Silvius  Piccolomini)  was  a  man  of  letters;  In- 
nocent VIII.  was  given  over  to  vices,  and  in  his  time  the 
papal  court  was  a  sty  of  corruption;  Alexander  VI. 
(Borgia)  was  the  most  infamous  of  them  all,  the  Nero 
of  the  papacy ;  Julius  II.  was  a  statesman  and  a  warrior, 
by  mischance  a  pope,  and  he  made  the  states  of  the  church 
a  political  power  which  endured  until  modern  times ;  Leo 
X.  (John  of  Medici)  was  a  patron  of  arts  and  letters, 
free  and  easy,  fond  of  money  and  luxury,  supposed  to  be 
a  freethinker,  and  certainly  a  very  unsuitable  man  for  the 
great  crisis  that  was  now  at  hand. 

Long  had  Spain,  with  the  south  under  Moorish  rule 
and  the  north  divided  against  itself,  been  of  little  moment 
in  European  politics.  But  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  things  took  a  turn.  A  statesman  and 
patriot  appeared  in  the  person  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  and 
to  his  farsighted  political  talents  the  country  owed  much, 
though  his  religious  bigotry  inflicted  lasting  evils  upon  it. 
In  1479  the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Arragon  were  united 
by  the  marriage  of  the  two  heirs,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ; 
in  1492  the  Moors  were  driven  out  of  their  stronghold  at 
Granada ;  and  in  the  same  notable  year  Columbus,  under 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE          293 

Spanish  patronage,  discovered  the  New  World  and 
gave  to  Spain  a  prestige  and  wealth  that  lasted  for 
generations. 

This  brief  glance  at  the  political  situation  in  Europe 
during  the  two  centuries  we  are  studying  reminds  us  that 
it  was  a  time  of  war,  ambition,  oppression,  cruelty,  in- 
trigue, corruption,  and  yet  of  far  reaching  significance  in 
national  affairs.  Nor  was  this  all,  for  amid  the  political 
and  military  strife,  there  was  progress  in  other  things. 

The  arts  of  peace  also  flourished  and  grew.  Trade  and 
industry,  the  art  of  wealth-production,  received  impor- 
tant stimulus  and  development.  There  was  waste  and 
extravagance,  but  there  was  also  thrift.  The  merchant 
and  banker  became  pillars  in  the  state.  Commerce  grew 
with  the  discovery  and  opening  of  new  lands.  As  the 
invention  of  gunpowder  revolutionized  warfare  and 
changed  the  face  of  the  world,  so  the  invention  of  print- 
ing revolutionized  literature  and  set  the  pace  for  a  new 
era  in  the  world  of  letters.  The  great  discoverers  and 
navigators,  Vasco  de  Gama,  Columbus,  Magellan,  and 
others,  filled  the  world  with  wonder,  and  widened  the  out- 
look of  humanity  upon  itself  and  its  home.  In  the  fif- 
teenth century  new  interest  was  developed  in  the  study 
of  the  exact  sciences  and  of  the  great  forces  of  nature, 
and  this  great  department  of  human  thought  received 
some  of  the  impulse  which  has  given  it  so  much  ascend- 
ency in  modern  times. 

In  the  fine  arts,  particularly  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  time,  there  was  great  progress.  Both  instrumental 
and  vocal,  both  secular  and  religious  music  were  culti- 
vated, and  took  on  important  developments.  In  archi- 
tecture the  noble  movements  of  the  former  period  went 
on  with  power.  Churches,  towers,  castles,  palaces,  public 
buildings,  bridges,  and  private  residences,  all  show  the 
great  growth  of  the  building  art.  In  sculpture  and  paint- 
ing the  effort  was  made,  as  in  music  and  architecture,  to 
cultivate  and  impress  religious  ideas.  The  decoration  of 
cathedrals  and  churches  was  one  of  the  principal  aims 
of  later  mediaeval  art ;  but  when  in  the  fifteenth  century 
the  revived  interest  in  antiquity  made  itself  felt,  a  new 
breath  came  to  art  also.  The  purely  artistic — art  for  art's 
sake — the  beautiful — the  sensuous — now  goes  hand  in 


294  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

hand  with  the  religious  aims  of  the  preceding  age.  One 
need  only  take  a  superficial  glance  at  the  walls  of  an  art 
gallery  to  see  how  the  devoutly  religious  and  the  sensu- 
ously beautiful  struggle  side  by  side  for  expression  in  the 
art  of  that  wonderful  age.  The  earlier  Italian  work  of 
Giotto  and  others  prepared  the  way  for  the  wonderful 
developments  of  the  Renaissance. 

We  have  seen  how  already  in  the  preceding  period  the 
languages  of  modern  Europe  were  settling  into  shape, 
and  the  national  literatures  were  beginning.  That  ten- 
dency goes  on  in  this  period  with  accelerated  power,  re- 
ceives a  great  impulse  from  the  invention  of  printing,  and 
in  the  fifteenth  century  gets  a  new  life  and  a  new  direc- 
tion by  the  revival  of  learning.  The  strong  foundations 
of  Italian  literature  had  already  been  laid  by  Dante  (d. 
1321),  Petrarch  (d.  1374),  and  Boccaccio  (d.  1375).  In 
other  lands  also  fair  beginnings  had  been  made  before 
the  new  learning  came  with  its  breath  of  power  and  life. 
In  Germany  poetry  passed  from  the  knightly  and  gallant 
kind  of  the  Minnesingers  to  the  more  burgherly  and  di- 
dactic sort  of  the  Meistersingers.  German  thought  found 
expression  also  in  some  prose  writings,  though  these  were 
of  no  great  or  world-wide  influence.  In  France,  while 
the  poetic  strain  of  the  early  troubadours  was  not  wholly 
lost,  prose  writing  found  admirable  representatives  in 
the  naive  and  charming  Froissart  (d.  after  1400)  and  in 
his  followers,  especially  Philip  de  Comines  (1445-1509), 
whose  narrative  of  the  events  of  his  time  is  highly 
valued.  In  England  poetry  had  its  great  representative 
in  Chaucer  (1328-1400),  and  prose  in  the  marvellous 
traveller's  tales  of  Sir  John  Mandeville  (d.  1372). 

All  these  earlier  developments  prepared  the  ground  for 
the  seed  of  the  new  learning  which  fell  richly  upon  it 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  All  depart- 
ments of  human  thought — philosophy  and  religion  as  well 
as  art  and  literature — were  powerfully  affected  by  this 
great  movement,  which  is  variously  described  as  the 
Renaissance,  the  Revival  of  Learning,  or  of  Letters,  and 
Humanism — that  is,  the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics.  Broadly  speaking,  it  was  a  fresh,  intense  and 
naturally  one-sided  and  extreme  devotion  to  the  art  and 
literature  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  Like  every  other 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          295 

literary  cult  it  had  its  sound  and  its  corrupt  elements,  its 
serious  aims  and  its  laughable  follies,  its  good  and  its 
bad  results. 

The  movement,  as  was  natural,  began  in  Italy,  and 
spread  through  Europe.  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio  were 
both  good  Greek  and  Latin  scholars,  and  their  work  and 
example  encouraged  a  taste  for  classical  studies  among 
their  admirers  and  followers. 

In  1453  the  fall  of  Constantinople  sent  many  Greek 
scholars  westward,  and  these  found  welcome  and  profit 
in  many  of  the  Italian  cities.  Notably  did  the  wealthy, 
cultured,  and  powerful  Medici  at  Florence  encourage  this 
tendency  of  literature  and  art;  and  under  the  rule  of 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  that  fair  city  became  a  flourish- 
ing center  of  the  new  culture.  Able  and  distinguished 
scholars  as  well  as  famed  artists  added  luster  to  that  "  city 
of  flowers  and  flower  of  cities,"  as  it  was  proudly  called. 
Here  the  study  of  Plato  was  a  reigning  fad.  Here  lived 
Politian,  Marsilius  Ficinus  and  Pico  di  Mirandola,  that 
wonder  of  knighthood  and  culture.  And  here  in  their 
time,  as  we  shall  see,  preached  the  stern  and  eloquent 
prophet  of  the  age,  Savonarola,  In  other  parts  of  Italy 
the  new  learning  also  had  brilliant  representatives,  such 
as  the  Cardinal  Bembo  and  Laurentius  Valla,  and  last 
but  by  no  means  least  the  popes,  Nicholas  V.,  Pius  II. — 
who,  as  yEneas  Silvius  Piccolomini,  was  known  to  fame 
as  an  eminent  Humanist  before  he  became  pope, — and 
Leo  X.,  the  son  of  Lorenzo  dei  Medici,  who  was  on  the 
papal  throne  and  devoted  to  literature  and  art  when 
Luther  began  what  the  easy-going  pontiff  was  pleased  to 
regard  as  a  "  quarrel  of  monks,"  but  history  calls  the 
Reformation. 

From  Italy  the  movement  spread  into  other  lands. 
Passing  Germany  for  the  present  let  us  recall  that  in 
England  the  new  love  of  learning  came  with  power  and 
laid  enduring  foundations.  John  Colet  (d.  1519),  dean  of 
St.  Paul's,  and  a  preacher  of  force,  was  an  admirable 
Greek  scholar  who  had  studied  in  Italy  and  taught  with 
enthusiasm  at  Oxford.  In  France  the  scholarly  work  of 
Faber  Stapulensis  (as  the  Latinized  form  has  the  name) 
and  others  belong  to  this  period. 

In  the  Netherlands  learning  was  in  touch  with  piety. 


296  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

The  mystics  had  not  lost  influence  there.  The  Brethren 
of  the  Common  Life,  a  society  founded  by  the  pious  and 
popular  preacher  Gerhard  Groot,  gave  special  attention 
to  the  education  of  the  young.  Among  them  in  their 
earlier  days  studied  the  gentle  Thomas  a  Kempis;  and 
later,  when  their  greatest  leaders  were  gone  and  their 
teaching  somewhat  deteriorated,  came  first  John  Wessel 
and  afterwards  Erasmus  to  get  a  start  in  learning  in 
the  schools  of  the  Brethren.  The  names  of  these  two  men 
bring  us  to  the  new  learning  in  Germany  and  its  relation 
to  the  Reformation. 

John  Wessel 1  (c.  1420-1489)  was  born  of  honest  mid- 
dle-class people  at  Groningen,  and  received  his  early 
education  in  the  school  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common 
Life  at  Zwoll.  It  is  probable  that  he  at  this  time  came 
also  under  the  influence  of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  who  lived 
in  the  cloister  at  Agnesberg  nearby.  The  youth  was  both 
pious  and  in  love  with  learning.  He  pursued  his  studies 
at  Cologne,  Lyons,  Paris,  Basel,  and  in  Italy.  He  taught 
and  lectured  at  many  of  these  places,  and  was  specially 
influential  at  Heidelberg  in  building  up  the  university,  on 
which  he  left  a  deep  impress.  Here  after  his  time  some 
of  the  leading  lights  of  the  Reformation — Melanchthon, 
Brentz,  Butzer — studied,  and  no  doubt  felt  the  .influence 
which  Wessel  had  left  behind  him.  In  Italy  he  came  in 
contact  with  many  of  the  earlier  scholars,  and  later  he 
was  associated  with  Reuchlin.  Along  with  his  learning 
his  pious  life  and  evangelical  views  prepared  the  minds 
of  many  of  his  pupils  for  the  coming  religious  upheaval. 

Vast  and  important  as  are  the  interests  of  nations  and 
of  culture  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
the  affairs  of  religion  are  also  passing  through  one  of  the 
most  tremendous  crises  of  history  and  approaching  the 
great  revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Catholic  writ- 
ers love  to  speak  of  the  mediaeval  centuries — especially 
the  thirteenth — as  the  "  ages  of  faith."  But  even  at  its 
best  the  sway  of  the  papacy  was  not,  and  could  not  be, 
complete.  Much  less  so  in  the  years  of  darkness  and 
corruption.  Even  as  far  as  Rome  taught  Christian  truth 
and  correctly  represented  the  Christian  spirit,  it  still 

1Ullmann's  Reformers  before  the  Reformation,  Vol.  II.  (Eng. 
transl.),  gives  an  elaborate  account  of  Wessel. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         297 

had  to  meet  the  perennial  opposition  of  evil,  enmity  with- 
out and  corruption  within.  Nor  was  the  church  ever 
without  the  questioning  presence  inside  its  fold  of  those 
who  were  more  or  less  discontented  with  many  of  its  doc- 
trines and  practices.  And  further,  there  were  the  so- 
called  heretics  who  declared  from  the  outside  that  the 
Scriptures  taught  a  simpler  and  purer  form  of  faith  and 
practice  than  was  found  in  the  Roman  system.  And 
lastly,  there  were  then,  as  always,  extremists  and  vision- 
aries of  every  sort.  The  awful  moral  degradation  into 
which  the  papacy  fell  during  this  time  made  it  utterly 
unfit  to  contend  against  the  forces  of  decay  on  the  one 
hand  and  of  reform  on  the  other,  and  it  is  the  conflict 
of  these  two  sets  of  forces  that  constitutes  the  religious 
history  of  this  great  period. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  state  of  religion  in  this  time 
was  very  low.  Corruption  in  doctrine  and  life  was  gen- 
eral and  extreme.  The  plain  annals  of  the  age  relate  facts 
that  make  us  blush  for  our  race ;  the  satirists  expose  and 
denounce  with  unsparing  hand  the  vices  and  follies  that 
prevailed ;  and  the  preachers  describe,  lament  and  attack 
sin  in  many  forms  and  places.  The  picture  of  the  corrupt 
age  is  painted  in  glaring  colors  by  those  who  could  look 
directly  upon  the  things  of  which  they  tell.  Yet,  bad  as 
it  was,  the  darkness  was  relieved  by  some  rays  of  light. 
The  pure  and  pious  were  found  even  in  those  evil  days ; 
quiet  mystics  sought  God  in  retirement,  and  noble  spirits, 
both  among  clergy  and  people,  were  found  who  lived  in 
this  evil  world  the  life  of  faith  and  virtue.  And  not  only 
in  the  way  of  satire,  but  also  of  heart-breaking  sorrow  and 
earnest  rebuke,  reformers  thundered  against  sins  from 
which  they  themselves  firmly  abstained.  Nor  were  there 
utterly  wanting,  both  among  faithful  men  and  excellent 
women,  those  who  visited  the  fatherless  and  widows  in 
their  affliction  and  kept  themselves  unspotted  from  the 
world.  In  simple  justice  to  the  things  that  make  for 
righteousness  we  should  bear  these  facts  in  mind  when 
we  come  to  look  more  narrowly  upon  the  evil  features  of 
the  time.  One  of  the  worst  of  these — the  corruption  of 
the  clergy — we  come  now  to  consider. 

Adequately  to  describe  the  character  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  from  the  days  of  Wiclif  to  those  of  Luther  would 


298  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

tax  the  picturing  powers  of  a  Dante  or  a  Burke.  Yet  the 
facts  themselves,  stated  as  briefly  and  as  simply  as  possi- 
ble, carry  their  own  sad  and  awful  impression  without  aid 
from  the  genius  of  poet  or  orator.  There  was  a  mediaeval 
proverb  x  to  the  effect  that  if  a  man  would  enjoy  himself 
for  a  little  while  let  him  kill  a  chicken,  if  for  a  year  let 
him  marry  a  pretty  wife,  if  for  life  let  him  become  a  priest. 
The  easy  and  envied  life  of  a  priest,  however,  was  only 
the  lot  of  the  more  favored.  Many  of  them  were  poor 
and  had  to  contend  with  hardships.  But  there  were 
among  the  prelates  and  those  who  had  the  better  places 
luxury  and  easy  living  that  almost  baffle  belief.  Along 
with  these  there  was  a  worldliness,  a  carelessness,  a 
moral  obliquity  that  are  only  too  well  attested.  Even 
when  we  make  all  necessary  deductions  for  the  exag- 
gerated lampoons  of  the  satirists,  the  idle  tales  of  the 
people,  and  the  overstatements  of  aroused  and  indignant 
reformers,  the  real  facts  at  bottom  are  hideous  enough. 
Ignorance  and  incompetence  were  small  faults  in  com- 
parison with  the  moral  unfitness  which  disgraced  the 
clergy  of  the  age.  Avarice  and  luxury,  greed  and  ambi- 
tion, simony  and  extortion,  went  together.  And,  worse 
than  these,  open  concubinage  and  general  looseness  of 
life  are  well-known  sins  of  the  secular  clergy.  The  monks 
were  no  better,  and  even  the  nunneries  did  not  escape 
censure.  The  papacy  set  the  example.  Petrarch  said 
that  the  court  of  the  popes  at  Avignon  was  a  place  where 
the  hope  of  heaven  and  the  fear  of  hell  were  regarded  as 
old  fables,  where  virtue  was  esteemed  an  affair  for  peas- 
ants, and  sin  was  regarded  as  a  sign  of  manly  indepen- 
dence. Such  moral  degradation  excited  the  scorn  of  the 
world,  aroused  the  conscience  of  the  upright,  drew  the 
tears  of  the  godly,  and  call  on  all  in  tones  of  thunder  for 
a  "  reformation  of  the  church  in  head  and  members." 
But  little  was  that  call  heeded  by  popes  and  councils. 
The  answer  to  it  was  to  come  in  another  way. 

In  the  upper  classes  of  society — the  princes  and  rulers 
and  gentry — there  was  a  moral  laxity  which  shows  itself 
only  too  plainly  in  the  annals  of  the  age  and  its  other  liter- 
ature. The  ties  of  morality  and  religion  sat  very  lightly 
indeed  upon  the  seared  consciences  of  many  who  esteemed 
1  Quoted  by  Hase  in  his  Church  History  somewhere. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         2QQ 

themselves  the  nobility  of  earth.  Cruelty,  violence,  op- 
pression, fraud,  lying  and  shameless  vice  stained  the  pow- 
erful and  wealthy.  The  extravagance,  luxury,  dissolute- 
ness of  many  fashionable  women  were  only  equalled  by 
the  corresponding  and  further-going  vices  of  the  men. 
As  for  religious  belief,  it  was  the  exception,  and  the  ex- 
ception itself  was  marred  by  superstition  and  corruptions 
of  doctrine.  But  not  all  of  the  nobility  were  bad,  there 
were  some  illustrious  exceptions. 

Among  the  people  generally,  with  such  examples  of 
evil  as  the  clergy  and  upper  classes  set,  the  corruption  of 
morals  and  the  degradation  of  religion  were  fearful.  We 
may  spare  ourselves  the  description  of  details.  Murder, 
robbery,  theft,  fraud,  unchastity,  abounded.  No  wonder 
men  thought  the  end  of  the  world  must  soon  come  and 
sweep  away  a  people  so  sunken  in  iniquity.  In  what 
passed  for  the  Christian  religion  fearful  abuses  in  prac- 
tice and  wretched  corruptions  of  doctrine  went  hand  in 
hand  with  superstitions  that  well  might  seem  incredible, 
did  not  eye-witnesses  attest  them,  and  their  remnants  still 
prove  them  to  have  been  sober  facts.  Magic,  miracle, 
witchcraft  and  deviltry  were  all  believed  in  and  practised ! 
Relics  of  the  saints  were  worshipped,  and,  of  course,  the 
saints  themselves.  Ecstasies  and  visions,  prophecies  and 
miracles  were  accepted  as  real  divine  interpositions  by 
even  the  pious,  while  absurd  and  wicked  impostures  were 
freely  practised  and  apparently  believed,  not  only  by  the 
innocent  people,  but  even,  to  some  extent,  by  the  cheats 
themselves !  The  sale  of  indulgences,  the  laxity  of  dis- 
cipline, the  externalism  that  corroded  the  religious  life, 
added  to  the  moral  disorders. 

Truly  it  was  a  time  for  reform.  The  better  spirits  of 
the  age  felt  this  deeply,  and  there  was  a  deep  and  grow- 
ing conviction  among  all  classes  that  things  should  and 
must  be  changed.  In  many  a  quiet  home  pious  parents 
taught  their  children  virtue  and  the  fear  of  God ;  the  art 
of  printing  spread  Bibles  and  good  books  among  the 
people ;  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  similar  organizations  elsewhere,  cultivated  and 
spread  piety ;  in  many  of  the  cloisters  there  were  devout 
mystics  who  called  upon  God  in  prayer;  and  here  and 
there  some  brave  reformer  lifted  up  his  voice  and  spared 
not  to  show  this  decayed  house  of  Israel  its  sins. 


30O  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

2.    THE  PREACHING  OF  THE  TIMES 

The  state  of  the  Catholic  pulpit  during  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  may  be  comprehensively  and  accu- 
rately described  as  one  of  decay.  The  mighty  forward 
movement  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  had 
reached  its  limit,  and  the  inevitable  reaction  followed. 
Yet,  of  course,  preaching  did  not  suddenly  change  either 
its  inner  character  or  its  external  forms  and  methods,  and 
among  these  were  many  elements  of  permanent  value. 
Besides  this  conservation  of  many  good  features  there 
was  the  rising  protest  of  the  reformatory  element,  which 
was  more  and  more  making  itself  felt,  till  it  accomplished 
a  revolution  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  And  so,  both 
the  conservative  (in  a  measure)  and  the  reformatory 
forces  of  preaching  maintained,  in  the  time  we  are  now 
considering,  a  struggle  against  the  forces  of  decline.  But 
these,  upon  the  whole,  were  in  the  ascendant. 

Let  us  first  pay  attention  to  some  of  those  acquired 
and  preserved  characteristics  of  preaching,  which  still 
meet  us  in  the  pulpit  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies. Some  of  these  were  good,  and  some  evil,  and 
some  mixed.  It  is  not  necessary  to  make  this  discrimi- 
nation formally,  as  it  will  speak  for  itself  in  the  discus- 
sion, but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  throughout. 

The  three  modes  of  thought  and  method  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  preceding  epoch  are  still  found,  but  all 
with  distinct  loss  of  power — the  scholastic,  popular  and 
mystic. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  great 
masters  of  the  scholastic  type  of  preaching  had  passed 
away.  Small  imitators  of  the  great  men  now  abounded 
and  made  the  method  ridiculous.  The  wearisome  divis- 
ions, the  tedious  refinements,  the  useless  distinctions  and 
vapid  subtleties  made  up  only  a  galvanized  corpse,  or  a 
dancing  skeleton  as  in  some  puppet  show,  instead  of  a 
live  and  vigorous  body.  The  description  of  the  degen- 
erate scholastics  of  the  age  given  by  Erasmus  in  his 
Praise  of  Folly  has  been  often  cited.  He  tells  how,  in 
the  first  place,  they  would  begin  with  an  invocation  bor- 
rowed from  the  poets ;  then  they  would  have  an  exordium 
of  some  far-fetched  and  extravagant  nature  drawn  from 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         301 

the  river  Nile,  or  Bel  and  the  Dragon,  or  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac,  or  squaring  the  circle,  or  from  the  elements  of 
grammar,  or  forced  etymologies  and  the  forms  of 
words,  all  artificial  and  pedantic  to  a  degree.  The  third 
stage  would  be  what  in  the  old  rhetoric  is  called  the  "  nar- 
ration," or  "  statement  of  the  case,"  and  here  the  text  of 
Scripture  would  be  given  or  slightly  alluded  to.  The 
fourth  part — the  main  body  of  the  discourse — would  in- 
troduce almost  a  new  person,  for  here  our  scholastic  be- 
comes a  mighty  theologian,  and  propounds  the  most  won- 
derful theological  subtleties,  touching  on  things  found  in 
neither  heaven  nor  earth;  and  to  tickle  the  ears  of  the 
hearers  he  would  adduce  the  great  doctors,  the  "  subtle," 
the  "  irrefragable,"  the  "  seraphic,"  and  the  like ;  and 
then  would  come  syllogisms  and  corollaries,  and  all  sorts 
of  scholastic  fooleries.  Finally,  there  would  be  the  "  fifth 
act,"  in  which  the  preachers  show  the  greatest  art  by 
bringing  in  as  application  and  illustration  some  fable  or 
legend — the  more  marvellous  and  absurd  the  better — 
which  they  proceed  to  interpret  "  allegorically,  tropologi- 
cally,  and  anagogically."  Thus  these  declaimers  would 
produce  their  "  chimeras,"  more  ungainly  than  the  fa- 
mous one  satirized  by  Horace  in  the  Ars  Poetica,  where 
the  literary  painter  is  said  to  portray  a  human  head,  with 
a  horse's  neck,  the  feathered  body  of  a  bird,  and  the  tail 
of  a  fish.  The  pen  of  the  erudite  Dutchman  was  dipped  in 
gall,  but  there  are  many  witnesses  to  the  essential  truth 
of  his  caustic  description.  Truly  scholastic  preaching 
was  in  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf ! 

Yet,  as  a  slight  offset  to  the  sad  decay,  Rothe  approv- 
ingly mentions  the  very  thing  which  Erasmus  criticises 
in  the  application,  or  fifth  part,  of  the  scholastic  sermon, 
namely,  the  use  of  fables,  legends  and  other  illustra- 
tions. This  came  as  a  relief  from  the  abstruse  and 
severely  doctrinal  and  analytical  character  of  the  strict 
scholastic  method,  and  was  an  approach  to  the  freer  and 
more  effective  popular  style. 

In  the  popular  preaching  of  the  age  traces  of  all  the 
other  types — scholastic,  mystic,  and  reformatory — are 
found  in  various  degrees.  Yet  it  is  proper  to  retain  this 
class  of  preachers  for  separate  consideration  because  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  in  this  age  appeal  to  the  mul- 


302  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

titude  was  still  effectively  made  by  preachers  of  popular 
gifts. 

As  is  ever  the  case  in  this  kind  of  preaching  the  preach- 
ers fall  into  three  sorts :  ( i )  Those  who  draw  and  impress 
the  people  by  sincere  and  earnest  effort  to  do  good,  by 
good  example,  by  heart-to-heart  appeal,  by  what  is  meant 
to  be  sound  evangelical  teaching;  (2)  Those  who  are 
chiefly  indeed  bent  on  good,  but  allow  themselves  large 
liberty  in  the  use  of  devices  to  attract  and  catch  the 
crowd,  such  as  sensational  oddities,  humor,  and  even 
worse  things;  (3)  Those  who  see  in  these  devices  ends 
rather  than  means,  and  seem  to  be  more  intent  on  mak- 
ing a  sensation  and  raising  a  laugh  than  on  anything  else. 
Rothe  *  says :  "  These  droll  preachers  are  by  no  means 
particular  in  the  choice  of  their  entertaining  material; 
and,  along  with  some  real  sparks  of  wit,  they  heap  to- 
gether the  worst  platitudes,  the  most  trivial  jests,  and  not 
seldom  downright  vulgarities  and  indecencies.  Gabriel 
Barletta,  Olivier  Maillard,  and  Michel  Menot — all  scho- 
lastic preachers — are  the  leaders  of  this  sort  of  thing. 
And  precisely  in  such  cases  as  they  do  we  see  that  even 
earnest  preachers  did  not  consider  this  drollery  beneath 
their  dignity." 

Throughout  the  whole  mediaeval  period,  as  we  have 
seen,  there  are  traces  of  the  burlesque  and  sensational  in 
preaching.  But  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  especially  in 
Italy  and  France,  this  always  questionable  and  often  thor- 
oughly evil  tendency  found  frequent  and  exaggerated 
expression.2  It  is  almost  incredible  to  what  a  degree  of 
irreverence,  absurdity,  and  even  indecency  this  sort  of 
thing  was  carried.  Some  of  the  stories  and  gibes  found 
in  sermons  of  that  age  are  almost  as  bad  as  anything  re- 
lated by  Boccaccio.  An  Italian  saying  in  commendation 
of  any  spicy  and  not  too  delicate  joke  was  that  "  it  was 
good  enough  for  a  sermon." 

Even  some  of  the  better  preachers,  men  with  really  seri- 
ous aims  and  personally  of  excellent  character,  were  not 
free  from  this  fault,  and  in  the  hands  of  less  able  and  seri- 

1  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  261. 

*  Marenco,  L'Oratoria  Sacra  Italiana,  cap.  IV. ;  A.  Meray,  Les 
Libres  Pr/cheurs  devanciers  de  Luther  et  de  Rabelais;  Rothe, 
Gesch.  der  Pred.,  SS.  261  ff.,  290  ff. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          303 

ous  men  it  became  a  shame  and  disgrace  which  no  amount 
of  special  pleading  can  justify,  and  the  bad  taste  of  the 
age  can  only  partially  palliate.  One  of  the  better  sort  of 
the  Italian  preachers  * — himself  by  no  means  above  re- 
proach— writes :  "  Preachers  ought  to  abstain  from  levity 
and  not  speak  idle  words  and  stories  to  provoke  a 
laugh.  Even  if  sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  make  the 
people  attentive  by  some  modest  pleasantry,  let  it  be  done 
moderately  and  rarely."  But  of  this  sage  counsellor  of 
moderation  to  his  brethren  the  following  story  is  told : 2 
He  had  a  female  admirer  who  objected  to  his  monk's  habit 
as  unbecoming,  and  said  she  would  like  to  see  him  clad 
in  knightly  array.  He  told  her  to  come  to  hear  him  preach 
next  day  and  she  should  see  him  and  hear  him  address 
the  people  clothed  in  full  panoply.  He  dressed  himself 
in  all  the  flashy  garb  of  a  knight  and  covered  it  all  with 
his  monastic  gown.  Thus  he  began  to  preach,  and  took 
occasion  in  his  sermon  to  urge  the  princes  and  knights  to 
go  a-crusading  against  the  Saracens  and  Turks.  He 
lamented  the  unwillingness  of  the  rulers  to  engage  once 
more  in  this  holy  warfare,  and  declared  if  nobody  else 
would  lead  he  was  ready  to  lay  aside  his  Franciscan  gown 
and  put  himself  at  the  head  of  an  expedition.  Upon 
this  he  put  off  his  gown,  and  stood,  a  flashing  knight  with 
drawn  sword ;  and  in  this  costume  he  proceeded  with  his 
discourse.  Even  if,  in  justice  to  the  man,  we  discredit 
the  alleged  motive  of  vanity  that  was  back  of  this  per- 
formance, it  was  a  useless  bit  of  sensationalism  and  insin- 
cerity. Nobody  was  going  on  a  crusade  then,  and  he  was 
sharp  enough  to  know  it. 

In  an  Easter  sermon  Gabriel  Barletta — of  whom  more 
will  be  said  later — discoursed  thus :  3  "  After  his  resurrec- 
tion the  Lord  was  looking  for  a  messenger  to  carry  the 
glad  news  to  his  mother.  A  number  offered  themselves. 
Adam  said,  Let  me  go,  because  I  was  the  cause  of  evil. 
No,  you  won't  do,  because  you  are  too  fond  of  figs  and 
might  stop  in  the  road.  Abel  said,  Let  me  go.  No ;  you 

1  Robert  of  Lecce,  quoted  by  Marenco,  /.  c. 

2  By  Rothe,  S.  262,  on  the  authority  of  Henry  Stephens.     Ma- 
renco also  tells  the  story,  only  he  leaves  out  the  incident  of  the 
sweetheart. 

3  Rothe,  S.  264.    Used  by  Longfellow  in  Friar  Cuthbert's  ser- 
mon in  The  Golden  Legend. 


304  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

might  meet  Cain,  and  he  would  kill  you.  Then  Noah 
would  undertake  the  business.  No ;  you  drink  too  freely. 
John  the  Baptist  couldn't  go,  because  he  wore  hairy 
clothes;  and  the  penitent  robber  was  rejected  because  his 
legs  were  broken.  Finally  an  angel  was  sent,  who  raised 
the  song,  Regina  coeli,  laetare!  Alleluia!  Resurrexit 
sicut  dixit!  Alleluia!"  What  trifling  and  irreverence! 
and  that  by  a  man  of  real  talent,  and  of  generally  serious 
aims !  Barletta  also,  in  one  of  his  sermons,1  tells  a  story 
which  some  readers  may  recognize  as  having  been  related 
of  a  much  respected  minister  of  recent  times  in  Virginia.2 
A  certain  priest,  in  celebrating  the  mass,  observed  a 
woman  who  seemed  much  touched,  and  freely  wept  as 
he  intoned  the  service.  After  it  was  over  he  spoke  to  the 
woman  and  asked  the  cause  of  her  emotion,  and  she  told 
him  it  was  his  voice,  which  reminded  her  tenderly  of  her 
recently  deceased  ass ! 

Marenco  3  says  that  the  excess  of  this  way  of  preach- 
ing became  such  a  scandal  that  the  Lateran  Council  of 
1512  was  led  to  pass  its  rule  forbidding  it,  and  that  pro- 
vincial councils,  and  later  the  Council  of  Trent,  acted  in 
the  same  direction.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  abuse 
was  so  great  as  to  call  for  this  high  authoritative  repres- 
sion. 

Meantime  the  mystic  type  of  preaching  had  also  some 
representatives  in  this  age.  Along  the  Rhine,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  Netherlands,  as  well  as  to  some  extent  in 
France  and  other  countries,  we  find  them.  Some  of 
these  preachers  will  claim  notice  later;  here  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  remark  that  the  mystic  preaching  of  this  time 
was  chiefly  derived  from  the  masters  of  the  past  and 
did  not  offer,  either  in  its  representatives  or  its  teach- 
ings, much  of  independence.4 

In  regard  to  the  composition  and  delivery  of  sermons, 
there  is  not  much  new  to  tell,  as  the  customs  of  preceding 
times  were  still  much  in  vogue.  But  several  points  of 
homiletic  interest  require  notice. 

Besides  homiletic  helps  in  the  way  of  collections  of 

1  Told  by  Meray,  op.  cit. 

2 1  am  glad  to  run  down  this  foolish  story  and  show  that  it  is 
as  old  as  it  is  silly. 
*  Op.  cit.,  beginning  of  cap.  V.  4  Rothe,  S.  267. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         305 

material  there  were  put  forth  in  this  time  a  few  books 
which  taught  the  art  of  discourse.  Early  in  the  fifteenth 
century  Nicholas  of  Clemanges  *  (a  pupil  of  Gerson),  in 
his  general  work,  De  Studio  Theologico,  had  given  some 
excellent  precepts  about  preaching.  Near  the  same  time 
two  Germans  published  works  which,  though  somewhat 
crude,  made  real  advance  in  homiletical  theory.2  Later, 
probably  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  two  more  Ger- 
man works  appeared.3  The  first  bore  the  title  Tractatus 
de  Modo  Dicendi  et  Docendi  ad  Populum  Sacra,  seu  de 
Modo  Prcedicandi,  and  had  for  its  author  one  Jerome  of 
Dungersheim.  Cruel  gives  an  outline  of  the  work  and 
speaks  favorably  of  it.  The  other  was  the  Manuals  Cu- 
ratorum  of  Ulrich  Surgant,  which  treats  of  such  subjects, 
as,  What  is  preaching,  Who  should  preach,  How  one 
should  preach,  Different  kinds  of  preaching,  Subjects  of 
preaching,  Memorizing,  Delivery,  and  the  like.  Thus  we 
see  that,  while  the  theory  of  preaching  was  not  wholly 
neglected,  and  many  practical  teachings  were  given  in 
various  ways,  there  were  no  really  great  or  important 
works  on  Homiletics  during  this  time.4 

From  these  books  and  from  the  sermons  themselves 
we  may  gather  something  as  to  the  contents  and  form  of 
the  discourses  of  the  period.  The  two  matters  may  be 
briefly  treated  together.  With  differences  in  detail  ac- 
cording to  persons,  subjects  and  circumstances,  the  pre- 
vailing method  of  discourse  was  about  as  follows :  First, 
there  would  be  an  invocation  or  brief  prayer  for  divine 
guidance,  then  an  exordium,  or  prothema,  an  introduc- 
tion to  awaken  interest  or  pleasure  in  the  hearers.  This 
was  not  at  all  or  only  remotely  connected  with  the  sub- 
ject, and  sometimes  was  far-fetched  and  bombastic.  Then 
would  come  the  thenia,  that  is,  the  text  or  passage  of 
Scripture,  read  in  Latin,  sometimes  translated  into  the 
vernacular,  and  sometimes  briefly  explained  word  for 
word.  This,  if  extended  at  all,  was  called  postulating? 

^d.,  8.269.  2  Cruel,  S.  596  ff.  "Id.,  8.599  ff. 

*  Those  of  Reuchlin,  Erasmus  and  Melanchthon  of  course  be- 
long to  a  later  date. 

B  The  name  postil  for  sermon  has  this  origin :  In  the  worship 
the  sermon  followed  immediately  upon  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  preacher  was  accustomed  to  introduce  his  com- 
ment by  saying,  "  After  these  words  of  the  text,"  etc.  (Post  ilia 


306  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  was  like  the  ancient  homily.  Sometimes,  if  the  postil 
was  of  much  length,  it  might  take  the  whole  time  and 
become  the  sermon,  with  only  the  conclusion  added.  But 
more  commonly  the  theme,  or  announcement  and  brief 
explanation  of  the  text,  was  a  subordinate  affair,  and 
then  came  the  dispositio,  or  arrangement,  the  division  and 
statement  of  the  plan  of  discourse.  With  the  scholastics 
this  was  very  elaborate;  with  others  it  was  subordinate 
and  brief.  Next  came  the  argument  or  proof,  or  discus- 
sion and  elaboration,  with  quotations  from  the  teachers 
of  the  church.  Here,  too,  was  room  for  scholastic  abuses, 
but  the  popular  sermons  would  rather  here  be  more  po- 
lemic in  tone  and  perhaps  briefer.  Last  would  come  the 
anecdotes,  fables,  stories,  comparisons,  drawn  from  na- 
ture, from  habits  of  animals  and  all  sorts  of  things,  by 
way  of  illustration  and  impression.  Finally  would  be 
the  admonitio  or  conclusio,  with  a  brief  closing  prayer. 

Such  were  the  general  form  and  contents  of  the  preach- 
ing of  these  centuries.  We  see  how  little  place  the  ex- 
planation and  real  enforcement  of  the  Word  of  God  was 
likely  to  have,  and  in  most  cases  did  have,  in  sermons  of 
this  construction.  Scholastic  subtleties  with  the  more 
learned  and  their  imitators,  examples  and  tales  with  the 
more  popular  and  easy  going,  were  the  main  contents. 
As  to  the  doctrine  and  morals  the  case  continued  as  in 
the  former  times.  The  prevailing  theology  of  mediaeval 
Romanism  was  the  staple  of  dogma.  The  morals  of 
Christianity  were  usually  clearly  taught,  but  with  admix- 
ture of  external  churchly  regulations  and  the  evils  of  the 
teaching  concerning  penance  and  indulgences.  Among 
preachers  of  the  reformatory  tendency,  the  attack  upon 
sin  and  corruption  was  the  main  thing  in  preaching, 
and  many  of  these  men  were  fearless  and  able  in  their 
polemic,  assailing  all  classes  of  men  and  all  species  of  sin 
without  fear  or  favor. 

The  Latin  still  held  some  place  as  the  language  of 

verba  textus,  etc.)-  So  the  homily  came  to  be  called  the  postilla, 
from  whence  a  verb  postillare  was  made,  and  a  noun  postillatio 
to  describe  the  action.  The  word  occurs  in  Wiclif's  writings  and 
other  old  English  literature,  but  is  now  obsolete  in  English,  though 
not  entirely  so  in  other  languages.  Readers  of  Luther  will  re- 
member that  his  Home-Talks  are  called  Hauspostillen.  See  Cruel, 
S.  123. 


3°7 

spoken  sermons.  These  were  mostly,  as  formerly,  those 
given  before  universities,  church  assemblies,  in  cloisters, 
and  the  like;  but  still  some  were  delivered  to  the  people 
in  Latin,  and  very  many,  as  in  the  past,  were  written  out 
and  published  in  that  tongue.  But  naturally  the  use  of 
the  vernacular  gained  ground,  and,  especially  among  re- 
formers and  popular  preachers,  tended  entirely  to  dis- 
place Latin  as  the  language  of  the  pulpit. 

As  to  the  delivery  of  sermons,  there  is  not  much  to 
add  to  what  has  been  said  of  prevalent  customs  in  the 
Middle  Ages.1  Places,  hours,  congregations,  length  of 
sermons,  occasions,  remained  as  described.  The  three 
methods  of  preparation  were  employed :  some  men  memor- 
ized, some  extemporized,  some  preached  from  notes.  In 
regard  to  this  Cruel  says : 2  "As  regards  the  delivery  of 
the  sermon  itself,  manifold  division  and  subdivision  of 
scholastic  sermons,  and  the  multitude  of  learned  citations 
makes  it  in  many  cases  scarcely  conceivable  how  such 
a  discourse  could  be  committed  and  recited  from  mem- 
ory. But  for  that  it  was  customary  to  use  the  help  of 
short  memory  cards,  or  even  the  sketch  itself,  which 
would  be  taken  into  the  pulpit.  Surgant  says  on  this 
point :  '  He  who  has  naturally  a  weak  memory  and  can- 
not remedy  it  by  art  must  lay  before  himself  a  paper  with 
the  main  and  subordinate  divisions  written  on  it,  or,  if  he 
can,  the  whole  sermon,  not  to  read  it  word  for  word,  but 
only  from  time  to  time  to  glance  at  it.' "  Bare  reading, 
then,  seems  not  to  have  been  practised,  but  only  memoriter 
or  extemporaneous  preaching,  frequently  with  the  help 
of  more  or  less  full  notes.  Doubtless  the  individual  dif- 
ferences of  delivery  were  as  marked  as  among  us.  Erasmus 
satirizes  the  extravagant  and  ridiculous  gestures  and  in- 
flections of  the  showy  preachers,  and  the  sensational  men 
no  doubt  resorted  to  many  tricks  of  delivery  for  effect. 
One  amusing  thing  is  noticed  by  Cruel.3  Sometimes  the 
preachers,  when  they  got  to  a  new  division,  would  say, 
"  Now  clear  your  throats,  for  this  matter  is  important 
and  must  be  heard,"  or,  "  Clear  your  throats  now,  I  will 
soon  let  you  go,"  or,  "  This  ends  the  first  division,  if  any 
one  has  to  cough  or  clear  his  throat,  this  is  the  place." 
Sometimes  this  was  done  as  a  device  to  rouse  the  congre- 
*Ante,  p.  192  f.  *  Op.  cit.}  S.  633  f.  3  S.  634. 


308  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

gation,  and  sometimes  for  this  purpose  the  preacher  would 
put  in  some  lively  and  not  always  respectable  anecdote. 
So  much  for  the  sermon  and  its  delivery;  we  must  now 
turn  our  attention  to  other  matters.  (Meantime  the  weary 
reader  may  clear  his  throat  or  otherwise  refresh  himself 
for  a  new  phase  of  the  subject!) 

Enough  has  already  been  said  to  show  that,  except 
for  the  note  of  reform  which  is  heard  in  some  of  the 
preaching  of  the  time,  the  sermons  of  the  later  fourteenth 
and  all  the  fifteenth  century  give  evidence  of  marked  de- 
generation. Yet  we  must  dwell  longer  on  the  painful 
topic  and  point  out  more  in  detail  what  has  thus  far  been 
only  incidentally  discussed. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  low  char- 
acter of  the  clergy  during  this  epoch.1  Much  ignorance, 
immorality,  luxury  and  ambition,  laziness,  avarice,  and 
other  evil  things  have  to  be  charged  to  their  account. 
And  this  of  course  was  at  once  both  cause  and  evidence 
of  decay  in  the  pulpit.  For  in  all  times  the  character 
of  the  preacher  either  enforces  or  enfeebles  his  preaching. 
And  where  the  average  of  character  is  bad,  no  matter 
how  noble  the  exceptions  may  be,  the  average  of  preach- 
ing will  necessarily  be  low.  Where  there  is  lack  of  true 
piety  and  conviction  in  the  preacher  the  pulpit  work 
tends  to  become  empty,  formal,  frigid  and  without  moving 
effect.  And  this  is  the  character  of  much  of  the  preaching 
of  that  age. 

Always  one  of  the  signs  of  degenerate  preaching — as 
of  any  literary  production — is  a  slavish  dependence  upon 
others,  past  or  present,  a  want  of  independence,  original- 
ity, freshness.  Copyists  and  imitators  are  found  in  every 
age,  it  is  true,  but  when  the  masters  belong  chiefly  to  a 
former  generation  and  the  small  followers  mostly  abound, 
the  fall  is  great. 

So  was  it  now.  We  have  seen  how  in  all  the  Middle 
Ages,  from  the  days  of  Gregory  the  Great,  and  notably 
in  the  age  of  Charlemagne  and  after,  the  preachers  freely 
appropriated  material  from  the  past  and  present.  In  fact 
the  best  of  them  did  it  without  scruple,  and  the  less  capa- 
ble were  encouraged  to  use  without  stint  collections  of 
sermons  and  other  prepared  material.  This  plagiarism 
*  Ante,  p.  297  f. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         309 

and  dependence  were  not  regarded  as  morally  wrong,  nor 
does  the  fatal  effect  upon  preaching  seem  to  ha,ve  been 
appreciated.  In  the  decadent  age  of  which  we  now  treat 
this  wretched  practice  had  full  swing  and  was  one  of  the 
worst  symptoms  of  the  prevalent  decline.1 

All  sorts  of  homiletical  helps  abounded.  Some  might 
have  been  legitimate  and  useful  if  wisely  handled,  but 
generally  they  were  a  temptation  to  the  weak  and  a  snare 
to  the  lazy.  There  were  books  of  outlines,  collections  of 
various  sorts  of  material,  from  so-called  "  flowers  "  de- 
rived from  Scripture  and  other  sources,  to  fables,  tales, 
illustrations  gathered  from  nature  and  elsewhere.  The 
invention  of  printing  made  it  possible  to  multiply  these 
books,  and  many  of  them  had  great  vogue.  In  addition 
to  these  helps,  which  required  at  least  some  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  preacher  to  use  in  his  work,  there  were  collec- 
tions of  ready-made  sermons  at  the  disposal  of  the  breth- 
ren. One  of  these  actually  bore  the  title  of  Parati  Ser- 
mones,  prepared  sermons.2  The  author  is  unknown,  but 
the  book  was  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  kind,  having 
passed  through  seventeen  editions.  The  discourses  are 
presented  in  a  simple  and  clear  arrangement  and  in  a 
style  "  easily  memorized,"  and  were  especially  popular 
because  they  gave  so  many  examples  and  illustrations. 
But  another  collection  surpassed  even  this  in  popularity, 
having  gone  through  twenty-five  editions.  This  was  the 
work  of  a  certain  John  of  Werdena  and  bore  the  whim- 
sical but  significant  title  of  Sermones  Dormi  Secure,  that 
is,  "  Sleep  Well  Sermons." 3  The  title  is  explained  in  a 
brief  introduction,  which  is  couched  in  these  terms: 
"  Here  happily  begin  the  Sunday  Sermons  with  exposi- 
tions of  the  Gospels  through  the  year,  quite  well  known 
and  useful  to  all  priests,  pastors  and  chaplains,  which 
are  also  called  by  the  other  title  of  Sleep  Well,  or,  Sleep 
without  Care,  for  this  reason,  that  without  much  study 
they  may  be  appropriated  and  preached  to  the  people." 
A  few  of  the  sermons  are  themselves  borrowed  from 
other  sources,  but  they  are  mostly  the  author's  own,  who 

1  Noted  in  all  the  authorities,  but  especially  well  in  Cruel,  S. 
451  if.  2  Cruel,  S.  474  ff. 

8  Op.  cit.,  S.  478  ff. ;  and  Broadus,  Preparation  and  Delivery  of 
Sermons,  p.  141  (new  ed.). 


310  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

was  spoken  of  by  Trithemius  as  a  "  very  celebrated  de- 
claimer  of  popular  sermons  in  his  time." 

One  outline  may  suffice  as  a  specimen  of  his  art.  The 
text  is  Mark  6 148,  "  The  wind  was  contrary  to  them ; " 
and  this  is  the  statement  of  the  plan :  "  There  are  four 
spiritual  winds  which  are  contrary  to  us  and  move  the 
sea  of  this  world :  I.  The  east  wind  blows  when  a  man  re- 
flects on  the  sorrowful  condition  in  which  he  entered  this 
life.  2.  The  west  wind,  when  he  reflects  on  bitter  death. 
3.  The  south  wind,  when  he  thinks  of  the  joys  of  eter- 
nity. 4.  The  north  wind,  when  he  thinks  of  the  terrors 
of  the  last  judgment." 

Besides  this  weak  dependence  and  wholesale  plagiarism 
the  preaching  of  the  age  showed  all  the  accumulated 
faults  of  the  past  with  which  our  studies  have  made  us 
familiar.  There  is  no  need  to  repeat  them  here ;  but  only 
to  remind  the  reader  that  doctrine  was  corrupt,  Scripture 
interpretation  allegorical  and  strained  and  otherwise 
faulty,  morality  often  dubious,  legends  and  tales  super- 
abundant, and  scholastic  refinements  and  excesses  unduly 
prevalent.  But  degenerate  as  preaching  generally  was,  we 
must  not  forget  that  there  were  also  indications  of  the 
saving  presence  of  a  noble  life  and  power.  It  was  not  all 
bad,  and  to  the  rise  and  growth  of  this  better  kind  of 
preaching,  its  nature  and  effects,  we  must  now  give  at- 
tention. 

Beginning  with  Wiclif,  in  the  second  half  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  a  new  note  is  heard  in  preaching.  This 
does  not  mean  that  none  before  him  had  preached  reform 
by  attacking  evils  and  appealing  to  Scripture  as  authority 
against  churchly  corruptions  in  doctrine  and  practice; 
but  it  does  mean  that  in  lifting  up  his  mighty  voice  in  this 
way  he  spoke  differently  from  the  most  of  his  contempo- 
raries, and  he  spoke  not  wholly  in  vain.  The  spirit  of 
the  true  reformer  is  not  that  of  the  satirist  who  sees  evil 
and  derides  it,  nor  that  of  the  pessimist  who  sees  it  only  to 
despair ;  nor  that  of  the  pious  mystic,  who  flees  before  it 
to  the  withdrawn  and  introspective  life;  but  that  of  the 
leader  of  men,  who  combines  whatever  is  good  in  all 
these  ways  of  regarding  evil  and  adds  to  them  the  courage 
to  attack  and  the  hope  to  overcome,  or,  at  least,  to  abate 
the  ills  of  his  time. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         31! 

Was  there  demand  for  this  new  spirit  and  this  new 
method  in  preaching?  Surely.  All  those  crying  abuses 
which  we  have  reviewed  as  evils  existing  in  the  social  and 
religious  life  of  the  times,  and  as  marks  of  degeneracy 
in  the  pulpit,  blended  into  a  loud  and  imperative  call  for 
preaching  of  a  sort  different  from  that  which  prevailed 
in  the  two  centuries  just  preceding  the  Reformation.  The 
wretched  and  sinful  state  of  society  loudly  demanded 
men  who  should,  like  John  of  old,  speak  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  Elias.  And  while  this  is  true  of  every  age, 
from  that  of  Noah  to  our  own,  the  call  came  with  an  em- 
phasis of  its  own  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
of  European  history.  If  ever  the  world  needed  the 
preaching  of  a  pure  gospel  it  was  then ;  if  anything  could 
put  a  saving  leaven  into  that  mass  of  evil  it  must  be  a  re- 
newal of  real  Christianity. 

And  yet  at  this  very  crisis,  nay,  as  a  part  of  the  crisis, 
it  was  true  that  the  great  body  or  hierarchy  claiming  to 
be  the  representative  of  God  and  the  authorized  inter- 
preter of  God's  will  on  earth,  was  itself  marred  by  un- 
speakable corruptions  in  life  and  doctrine.  The  religious 
guides  of  the  people  were  many  of  them  shamefully  and 
hopelessly  corrupt.  If  men  were  to  be  saved  by  preach- 
ing, it  must  be  through  preachers  different  from  these. 
And  in  doctrine  the  lapse  was  equally  grave  and  more 
widely  diffused,  for  even  the  good  preachers  held  a  very 
badly  mixed  theology.  It  may  well  be  that  among  some 
of  the  so-called  heretics  of  this  time  there  could  be  found 
a  purer  type  of  doctrine  than  that  which  prevailed  among 
the  Catholic  clergy,  but  no  sermons  of  theirs  have  come 
down  to  tell  us  what  they  preached.  The  current  Roman 
Catholic  doctrine,  with  all  its  unscriptural  and  anti-scrip- 
tural accretions,  was  the  staple  of  the  sermons  that  have 
survived.  Surely  it  was  time  for  a  new  note  to  be  heard. 
What  more  emphatic  call  for  a  true  gospel  preaching  can 
there  be  than  is  found  in  the  co-existence  of  a  depraved 
ministry  and  a  corrupted  theology  ? 

With  all  these  things  there  was  a  widespread  awaken- 
ing of  conscience  in  regard  to  the  fearful  evils  and  cor- 
ruptions of  the  times.  The  better  spirits  of  the  age  looked 
on  these  things  with  grief  and  shame,  and  came  more 
and  more  to  feel  that  upon  them  rested  some  responsibility 


312  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

to  improve  the  condition  of  the  world.  Among  the  weak 
and  sinful,  too,  there  was  a  growing  feeling  of  penitence 
and  desire  for  better  things.  Such  a  feeling  as  this  in  a 
former  age  preceded  and  helped  to  produce  the  crusades 
and  the  great  preaching  which  distinguished  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries ;  in  this  era  it  preceded  and 
helped  to  produce  the  Reformation  and  the  great  Protest- 
ant preaching  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Ullmann  well 
says : *  "  The  religious  and  moral  preparation  for  the 
Reformation  consisted  in  this,  that  the  Christian  spirit 
found  in  the  members  of  the  Church  a  new  and  mighty 
revival,  both  in  the  way  that  more  inward  interest  of 
the  understanding  toward  Christian  truth  was  aroused, 
and  that  the  moral  feeling  was  awakened  and  sharpened ; 
led  back  from  the  outwardness  of  works  to  the  inwardness 
of  feeling  and  will." 

This  awakening  of  conscience  showed  itself  in  many 
different  ways,  and  was  found  in  many  different  places. 
Rulers,  statesmen,  men  of  affairs,  scholars  and  literary 
men,  as  well  as  preachers,  and  pious  mystics  of  both  sexes, 
felt  and  expressed  the  need  for  a  renovation  of  Christian 
life  and  teaching,  and  for  a  "  reformation  of  the  church 
in  head  and  members."  Did  all  the  blended  tones  of  this 
call  go  unheeded? 

In  the  preaching  of  the  age  there  was  found  with  more 
or  less  of  distinctness  and  power  some  response  to  these 
earnest  demands  for  reform.  In  some  sense  it  is  gen- 
erally true  that  the  sermons  that  have  come  down  to  us 
contain  traces  of  the  reformatory  tendency,  but  in  many 
of  them  it  is  only  a  trace.  Yet  even  that  is  worth  some- 
thing as  an  indication  that  the  pulpit,  decadent  as  it  was 
in  many  respects,  was  not  wholly  deaf  to  the  call  for  a 
better  teaching  and  enforcement  of  Christian  truth. 

The  most  widespread,  conspicuous,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  easiest  part  of  reform  preaching  was  found  in  its 
attack  on  the  corruptions  which  disgraced  the  age  and 
compelled  the  attention  of  men.  This  is  the  necessary 
commonplace  of  all  reformatory  movements,  and  is 
greatly  in  evidence  in  the  sermons  of  this  time.  The 
preacher  shared  this  critical  attitude  with  the  philosopher, 
the  historian,  the  literary  man ;  and  these  might  be  mere 
1  Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation,  Bd.  II.,  S.  4. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         313 

cynics  and  satirists,  showing  and  denouncing  corruption, 
but  not  helping  much  to  remove  the  evils  of  which  they 
complained.  No  doubt  some  of  the  preaching  of  the  age 
— as  is  true  of  all  ages — went  no  further  than  this,  nor 
are  there  wanting  indications  to  support  this  reasonable 
inference.  The  preacher  might  even  thunder  in  the  pulpit 
against  the  sins  of  which  he  was  himself  guilty  in  private. 
Judas  might  condemn  avarice  and  treachery,  and  Simon 
Magus  inveigh  with  holy  horror  against  the  sale  and  pur- 
chase of  so-called  spiritual  dignities,  at  least  of  churchly 
offices.  Alas !  sometimes  the  most  loud-mouthed  assailer 
of  evils  is  not  by  any  means  a  reformer. 

But  a  degree  better  than  this  cheap  and  perfunctory  at- 
tack upon  sin  was  the  work  of  men  who,  like  Barletta, 
Geiler  and  Maillard,  were  good  in  life  and  serious  in  pur- 
pose, and  yet  fell  short  of  being  real  reformers  because 
they  lacked  the  best  spirit  and  the  best  method.  They 
scolded  and  ridiculed,  and  used  plain  language,  and  feared 
nobody ;  but  they  brought  no  thorough  reformation.  No- 
thing is  wanting  to  the  completeness  of  their  diagnosis  and 
the  painful  thoroughness  of  their  probing;  but  the  balm 
of  Gilead  is  not  found  in  their  hands,  nor  is  the  health 
of  the  daughter  of  their  people  recovered.  A  still  further 
advance  is  found  in  the  weeping  prophet,  who  sees  with 
grief  unto  tears,  and  denounces  with  a  sorrowful  despair, 
the  evils  for  which  he  perceives  no  remedy.  But  the  true 
reformer  cannot  stop  with  these.  He  may  combine  all 
these  elements — righteous  wrath,  sharp  denunciation, 
heartbreaking  grief,  and  manifest  sympathy  for  his  sin- 
ning people — but  he  must  be  more  and  do  more  than  all 
that  is  here  implied,  or  he  cannot  lead  and  ensure  the 
reformation  for  which  he  prays. 

That  completing  element  lies  in  the  assumption  of  lead- 
ership and  its  summons  for  a  following.  Some  brave, 
even  if  hitherto  obscure,  and  modest  Gideon  must  blow 
his  trumpet  and  summon  a  following  of  his  brethren.  He 
must  say  that  this  task  can  be  done,  must  be  done,  and  we 
are  the  men  and  this  the  hour  to  do  it.  Here  is  the  con- 
fident call  of  leadership  in  a  righteous  cause,  a  cause  be- 
lieved in,  a  cause  whose  ultimate  triumph  is  really  hoped 
for,  a  cause  in  which  the  leaders  are  willing  not  only  to 
dare  but  to  do,  and  not  only  to  do,  but,  if  need  be,  to  die. 


314  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Partiotism  and  philanthropy  have  furnished  many  illus- 
trious examples  of  this  spirit,  but  it  is  not  claiming  too 
much  for  the  Christian  ministry  to  say  that  in  its  ranks 
in  all  ages  reformers  of  the  true  and  noblest  type  are  to  be 
found.  In  the  age  of  which  we  now  treat  lived  Wiclif, 
Huss  and  Savonarola.  These  were  no  gay  satirists  of 
follies  which  they  blithely  shared,  no  blatant  censors  of 
sins  which  they  indulged,  no  sharp  antagonists  of  evils 
which  they  fought  only  with  pen  and  tongue,  no  gloomy 
prophets  of  calamities  against  which  they  lifted  warning 
voices  merely,  not  helping  hands.  Nor  were  these  im- 
mortal three  alone.  Brethren  and  followers  they  had, 
even  if  comparatively  few ;  and,  though  the  work  was  too 
great  for  them,  it  was  nobly  begun  and  found  a  larger 
accomplishment  in  after  times. 

In  their  call  to  the  consciences  of  men — that  residue  of 
moral  force  which  even  decay  and  darkness  cannot  ut- 
terly smother  in  human  society — these  reforming  preach- 
ers had  a  mighty  engine  of  power  and  a  perpetual  in- 
centive to  hope.  But  for  the  Christian  preacher  this  was 
not,  and  never  is,  enough.  He  must  be  more  than  the 
moral  reformer,  while  he  always  must  be  that.  There  is 
for  him  a  higher  appeal  than  to  the  awakened  conscience 
and  the  earnest  cooperation  of  men  of  like  mind  with 
himself.  The  chief  element,  nay,  the  real  essence,  of  a 
religious  reformation  is  its  appeal  to  God.  This  was 
the  distinctive  thing  in  the  work  of  the  great  reformers 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  of  those  few  brave  spirits 
who  preceded  them  in  the  dark  fourteenth  and  fifteenth. 

By  what  higher  warrant  than  that  of  human  conscience 
and  law  may  men  assail  existing  evils  and  call  on  other 
men  to  aid  in  attacking  and  overcoming  them?  Some 
might  say  that  no  higher  warrant  is  needed;  but  the 
Christian  reformer  does  not  so  speak,  and  history  justifies 
his  resort  to  an  authority  supreme  over  these.  But  what 
shall  be  the  character  of  his  appeal  to  God?  That  leads 
us  to  a  deeper  question.  How  is  the  divine  authority  ex- 
pressed for  men?  To  what  visible  and  accessible  mani- 
festations of  the  divine  will  shall  resort  be  made?  The 
question  is  put  in  this  speculative  form  only  to  make 
clearer  the  facts  with  which  we  are  dealing.  In  its  his- 
torical form  it  is  simply  this :  How  did  the  reform  preach- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         315 

ers  of  the  corrupt  age  which  we  are  studying  make  their 
appeal  to  God? 

The  three  ways  in  which  God  is  believed  among  Chris- 
tians to  indicate  his  will  were  all  more  or  less  clearly  in- 
voked in  the  reformatory  struggles  of  our  period.  To 
some  God  spoke  most  distinctly  in  the  consciousness  and 
conscience  of  the  pious  and  enlightened  soul.  The  deal- 
ings of  the  divine  Spirit  with  devout  individuals  in  their 
sought  and  practised  communings  with  God  were  accepted 
and  utilized  as  revelations  of  his  mind  and  will.  The 
real  element  of  truth  and  strength  that  is  here  involved 
should  be  frankly  recognized.  But  we  see  that  this  mystic 
strain  lapsed  only  too  easily  into  a  belief  of  direct  per- 
sonal inspiration,  and  even  in  so  noble  a  soul  as  Savon- 
arola went  perilously  near  to  fanaticism  and  ended  in 
comparative  failure.  This  mode  of  appeal  needed,  as  it 
ever  does,  the  correction  and  regulation  of  something  ex- 
ternal, stable  and  definite. 

To  others  God  spoke  in  the  church  and  all  its  institu- 
tions, as  the  historic  and  visible  manifestation  of  his 
presence  among  men.  And  while  in  its  human  develop- 
ments there  might  arise  errors  in  life  and  doctrine,  it  is 
for  the  church  to  purify  itself  in  head  and  members.  The 
appeal  must  be  from  the  church  corrupted  to  the  church 
aroused  to  its  fallen  state.  Again,  whatever  force  must 
be  allowed  to  the  idea  of  common  consent  in  doctrine,  as 
tending  to  orthodoxy,  and  to  general  agreement  in  morals, 
as  tending  to  righteousness,  shall  here  also  be  freely  con- 
ceded. But  varying  standards,  both  theoretically  and  his- 
torically, tend  to  confusion ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Catholic  Church  failed  to  effect  its  own  reformation. 
Partly  because  the  real  advocates  of  reform  were  in  a 
minority  and  not  even  then  unanimous,  and  partly  because 
the  church  and  its  theology  contained  many  errors  that 
could  not  be  removed  without  what  was  tantamount  to 
abdication  of  some  of  its  strongest  claims,  thorough  re- 
form in  this  direction  was  hopeless.  Constance  and  Basel 
glaringly  record  this  failure,  and  Trent  later  emphasized 
and  perpetuated  it. 

Something  more  was  needed.  Accordingly,  others 
sought  and  found  the  finally  authoritative  voice  of  God 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  If  the  individual  Christian  ex- 


316  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

perience  and  the  churchly  life  and  doctrine  conformed  to 
the  Bible  they  might — always  with  caution  and  open  to 
revision  and  correction — be  accepted  as  subsidiary  aids 
in  reaching  right  conclusions  and  effecting  needed  re- 
forms; but  evermore  and  finally  the  revealed  Word  of 
God  in  Holy  Scripture  must  be  supreme  authority.  Here 
Wiclif  and  others  laid  down  the  gage  of  battle ;  it  was  on 
this  field  they  fought  and  fell,  that  later  reformers  might 
here  also  fight  and  triumph. 

Historic  justice,  however,  requires  that  two  remarks 
should  here  be  made  as  to  the  use  of  Scripture  by  the 
early  reform  preachers.  One  is  that  they  were  not  abso- 
lutely alone  in  their  appeal  to  the  Bible  and  in  their  use 
of  it.  Others  also  recognized  the  Scriptures  as  authority, 
but  not  with  the  emphasis  and  finality  that  make  this  the 
distinctive  and  triumphant  thing  in  reformatory  preach- 
ing. The  other  remark  is  that  so  deeply  seated  and 
universally  accepted  were  false  principles  of  interpre- 
tation and  application  in  the  pulpit  use  of  Scripture,  that 
even  the  reformers  themselves  were  by  no  means  clear 
of  them.  But  it  is  their  glory  that  here  also  they  made 
a  notable  advance  and  prepared  the  way  for  better 
things. 

In  the  old  Teutonic  stories  the  hero,  Siegfried,  had 
to  take  the  rusted  fragments  of  his  inherited  sword  and 
by  file  and  fire  and  hammer  make  it  over  again  before 
it  became  in  his  strong  hand  the  ever-victorious  weapon 
of  assault  upon  dragons  and  all  other  foes.  So  the 
Siegfried  of  reform  must  forge  anew  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  that  out  of  the  rust  and  breakage  of  centuries  of 
misuse  it  might  come  forth  a  keen  and  gleaming  blade, 
ready  to  hand  in  every  fight  for  the  truth.  To  some  of 
the  heroes  thus  armed  and  active,  thought  not,  alas! 
immediately  victorious,  we  shall  give  our  attention  in  the 
next  chapter. 

CHAPTER  X 

PREACHERS    OF    THE    FOURTEENTH    AND    FIFTEENTH 
CENTURIES 

Having  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter  the  times 
and  the  preaching  that  characterized  them,  we  must  now 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         317 

consider  some  of  the  representative  preachers  of  the 
various  tendencies  of  thought  and  methods  of  work. 
The  older  types  remained  and  the  preachers  of  reform — 
advance  heralds  of  the  Reformation — deserve  and  will 
receive  special  study. 

i.     PREACHERS  OF  THE  OLDER  TYPES 

Italy  was  specially  rich  in  scholastic  and  popular 
preachers  in  the  fifteenth  century ; x  but  only  a  few  of  the 
best  can  be  noticed  here.  John  (Giovanni)  of  Capistrano 
(1385-1456)  was  a  Franciscan  of  the  stricter  sort.  He 
was  a  man  of  some  learning  and  highly  regarded  in  his 
native  land  as  a  preacher.  He  so  distinguished  himself 
by  his  zeal  against  heretics  that  the  pope  sent  him  on  a 
mission  to  Germany,  where  he  had  great  crowds. 
Though  he  preached  in  Italian  and  through  an  inter- 
preter, his  lively  gesticulation  and  theatrical  manners 
produced  a  great  effect  on  his  hearers.  He  likewise 
preached  in  Bohemia  against  the  Hussites.2 

Of  far  greater  importance  was  Bernardino  of  Siena 
(1380-1444),  likewise  a  Franciscan,  and  soon  after  his 
death  enrolled  among  the  saints.  He  came  of  good 
family  in  Etruria  and  enjoyed  good  instruction,  studying 
canon  law.  But  soon  he  divided  his  wealth  among  the 
poor  and  entered  the  Franciscan  order.  He  was  much 
grieved  over  the  decay  in  that  famous  body,  and  made 
efforts  at  reform  among  them.  As  an  officer  of  the 
order  he  made  a  journey  to  Jerusalem,  which  he  turned 
to  good  account  in  his  studies.  He  developed  great  tal- 
ent as  a  speaker  and  was  very  popular.  Siena  was  the 
principal  scene  of  his  labors.  He  was  very  diligent  in 
preaching,  attracted  large  crowds,  and  produced  wonder- 
ful effects.  He  was  especially  successful  in  attacking 
gambling,  many  players  being  induced  to  forsake  the  evil 
and  burn  their  dice  and  cups.  The  story  goes  that  a 
painter  complained  to  Bernardino  that  his  living  was 

1 1  have  had  excellent  help  in  the  following  pages  from  the 
works  of  Marenco  and  Zanotto,  and  from  Rothe ;  also  from  the 
old  but  still  valuable  work  of  Ammon,  Geschichte  der  Homiletik, 
which  treats  especially  of  the  period  between  Huss  and  Luther. 
Rothe  borrowed  very  freely  from  this  work. 

a  See  Hering,  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  S.  80. 


318  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

taken  away  because  he  earned  his  bread  by  painting  dice, 
and  that  the  preacher  told  him  to  paint  instead  a  disc 
representing  the  sun  with  the  name  of  Jesus  in  the  cen- 
ter. The  painter  did  as  he  was  told,  and  the  demand  for 
these  tokens  grew  so  great  by  Bernardino's  influence 
that  the  painter  got  rich.  The  explanation  lies  in  the 
fact  that  in  preaching  Bernardino  would  sometimes  use 
one  of  these  pictures  to  illustrate  his  sermon  and 
heighten  the  effect.  Thus  we  see  a  bit  of  sensationalism 
and  a  tincture  of  superstition  in  his  work.  He  carried  it 
so  far  that  the  pope  put  a  stop  to  it  as  approaching  idol- 
atry. The  sermons  of  Bernardino  are  decidedly  of  the 
scholastic  type — long,  exhaustive,  with  subtle  and  numer- 
ous divisions  and  distinctions — and  one  wonders  at  their 
popularity.  But  he  had  the  oratorical  talent — imagina- 
tion and  capacity  for  kindling  emotion — and  he  power- 
fully moved  the  people.  He  treated  moral  subjects  with 
good  effect,  and  was  far  superior  to  most  of  his  contem- 
poraries. 

Even  more  scholastic  than  he  was  Leonardo  of  Utino 
(d.  1470),  who  about  the  year  1444  was  a  renowned 
professor  at  Bologna  and  preacher  also  at  the  court  of 
Pope  Eugenius  IV.  He  was  a  Dominican  and  enjoyed 
great  reputation  as  preacher  in  many  cities  of  Italy.  The 
sermons  which  remain  from  him  are  remarkable,  besides 
their  generally  scholastic  type,  especially  for  two  things : 
their  marvellous  learning,  and  the  rigid  monotony  of 
their  structure.  In  regard  to  the  first  Ammon  says,1 
"  Every  one  of  these  sermons  is  overloaded  with  an  im- 
mense mass  of  sayings  and  citations  from  authors  of 
ancient  and  more  recent  times.  The  very  first  one,  on 
gluttony,  contains  whole  passages  from  Gregory  the 
Great,  Augustine,  Seneca,  Cicero,  Boethins,  Vegetius, 
Lucan,  Ennodius,  Gaufred,  Valencio,  Maximus,  Hugo, 
Isidore,  Jerome  and  Ambrose."  In  regard  to  structure 
it  is  curious  that  every  discourse  is  built  on  the  same 
plan,  as  monotonously  as  the  chapters  of  the  Summa  of 
Aquinas,  by  which  it  was  evidently  influenced.  The  in- 
troduction describes  a  soul  intent  on  instruction  coming 
to  hear  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel  or  Epistle,  which  is 
stated  in  the  theme,  but  has  to  be  proved  because  the 
1  Op.  cit.,  S.  92. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         319 

devil  would  overthrow  it.  After  the  introduction  and 
statement  of  the  theme  the  plan  is  to  unfold  the  subject 
under  two  general  divisions  represented  respectively  by 
Moses  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  Each  of  these  general 
heads  is  subdivided  into  four  parts.  Under  the  teach- 
ing of  Moses  the  subject  is  tested  by,  i,  Natural  law; 
2,  divine  law;  3,  prophetic  law;  4,  human  law.  Under 
the  teaching  of  Aquinas  it  is  tested  by,  i,  Natural  law; 
2,  evangelical  law;  3,  canon  law;  4,  ecclesiastical  law. 
With  ingenious  subtlety,  native  to  a  scholastic,  he  makes 
all  of  these  prove  his  point,  and  concludes  his  sermon 
with  the  sentence :  "  Then  the  fully  instructed  soul  gave 
thanks  to  God  for  what  it  heard  from  its  teachers  and 
went  home  in  peace.  Amen."  In  all  the  more  than 
eighty  sermons  this  same  plan  appears.  The  further 
subdivisions  under  the  topics  of  the  various  kinds  of  law 
are  very  numerous — preferably  forty ! — and  this  is  where 
scholastic  ingenuity  and  wealth  of  learned  quotation 
especially  appear.  Such  a  method  might  well  seem  de- 
structive of  all  oratorical  effect,  but  the  energy,  the 
earnestness,  the  natural  oratorical  talent  of  the  preacher 
overbore  his  scholastic  pedantry  and  give  him  power 
over  his  hearers,  who  could  but  admire  his  learning  and 
thoroughness  while  they  felt  the  force  of  his  native  elo- 
quence. 

The  scholastic  method  did  not  lack  notable  repre- 
sentatives in  Germany  also.1  Among  these  we  may  first 
mention  John  Gritsch  (d.  c.  1430),  of  whom  little  is 
known  save  that  as  a  preacher  of  the  Franciscan  order 
he  was  very  celebrated  at  Basel  in  the  time  of  the  famous 
council  there.  An  interesting  collection  of  his  sermons 
remains.  Like  those  of  Leonardo,  they  are  uniform  in 
plan  (though  of  course  not  Leonardo's  plan),  and  are 
loaded  with  citations  from  the  authorities.2  While  the 
structure  is  too  uniform  and  artificial,  it  has  the  virtues 
of  clearness  and  neatness.  Like  many  other  preachers 

1  Besides  Ammon  and  Rothe,  the  great  work  of  Cruel,  which  be- 
comes here  in  its  closing  sections  extremely  valuable.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  make  parting  acknowledgment  to  a  treatise  charac- 
terized by  so  great  scholarly  research  and  soundness  of  judgment. 

*  Tke  following  plan,  quoted  from  Ammpn,  gives  a  good  speci- 
men of  Gritsch's  manner.  The  subject  is  the  Transfiguration, 


320  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

of  his  time  Gritsch  makes  much  use  of  the  classic  fa- 
bles, and  is  especially  fond  of  Ovid's  Metamorphoses. 

His  method  of  treating  these  may  be  illustrated  by  an 
example  quoted  from  Cruel :  "  When  Jupiter,  the  god  of 
heaven,  was  informed  of  the  corruption  of  the  whole  hu- 
man race  he  took  counsel  with  all  the  gods  and  deter- 
mined to  destroy  all  men  by  a  flood.  Beforehand,  how- 
ever, he  decided  to  go  down  to  earth  in  another  form  and 
learn  by  personal  observation  whether  the  complaints 
against  men  were  well  grounded.  In  human  form  he 
visited  the  wicked  tyrant  Lycaon,  who  prepared  him  a 
bed  in  his  house,  but  secretly  sought  to  slay  him.  For 
this  he  was  changed  into  a  wolf,  who  now  ranges  howl- 
ing in  the  forests.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  really  this : 
that  Jupiter  was  a  king  of  Crete,  who,  by  his  magic  arts 
made  his  subjects  believe  that  he  was  a  god,  and  as  such 
he  received  worship.  Now,  when  many  had  bound 
themselves  to  war  with  him,  he  disguised  himself,  in 
order  to  spy  out  the  force  of  the  enemy,  and  so  he  came 
to  Arcadia  to  Lycaon,  who  received  him  treacherously 
and  in  the  night  tried  to  kill  him.  By  stratagem  he  es- 
caped this  danger  and  drove  Lycaon  as  a  punishment 
from  his  possessions,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to  flee 
to  the  woods  and  live  by  robbery  and  plundering,  so  it 
could  be  justly  said  that  he  was  changed  into  a  wolf. 
In  truth,  beloved,  now  do  the  godless  people  of  the 
Jews  appear  as  such  a  wolf  Lycaon.  For  we  know  that 
the  supreme  Jupiter,  the  Son  of  God,  by  his  incarnation, 
came  down  personally  to  visit  the  Jewish  people.  The 
Jews,  however,  sought  in  wolfish  fashion  ever  treacher- 
ously to  slay  him.  But  Christ,  who  knew  all  things — 

Matt.  17:1  ff,  and  the  outline  is  as  follows: 

I.  Mundi  utilitas  renuntianda :  habet  enim, 

1.  Infidelitatem  in  acquirendo; 

2.  Instabilitatem  in  retinendo; 

3.  Anxietatem  in  relinquendo. 

II.  Humana  fragilitas  releyanda : 

1.  Per  secretam  inspirationem ; 

2.  Per  uberem  largitionem ; 

3.  Per  severam  indignationem. 

III.  Beatitudinis  dignitas  desideranda : 

1.  In  subjectione  contra  mundi  praesumtionem ; 

2.  In  dilectione  contra  mundi  dissensionem ; 

3.  In  duratione  contra  mundi  correptionem. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         321 

even  their  corrupt  hearts — could  not  be  deceived,  that  is, 
he  knew  that  he  by  the  resurrection  would  escape  the 
death  prepared  for  him,  but  that  the  Jews,  on  the  con- 
trary, for  punishment  would  be  scattered,  and,  like  hun- 
gry wolves,  would  range  over  the  earth."  We  see  here 
familiarity  with  classical  literature,  a  rationalizing  way 
of  treating  the  myths  so  as  to  prevent  their  being  any 
more  believed  as  true,  an  allegorizing  way  of  making 
them  serviceable  in  Christian  teaching,  and  clear  trace 
of  that  mediaeval  hatred  of  the  Jew  which  was  only  too 
much  encouraged  by  the  Church  and  often  broke  out  in 
shameful  persecutions. 

The  most  renowned  of  these  German  scholastics  was 
Gabriel  Biel  (d.  1495),  who  for  a  number  of  years,  under 
the  patronage  of  duke  Eberhard  of  Wurtemburg,  filled 
with  distinction  the  chair  of  philosophy  and  theology  at 
the  University  of  Tubingen.  In  his  last  years  he  retired 
to  a  home  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  at 
Schonau,  where  he  died.  Though  a  busy  professor  in 
two  departments,  Biel  was  also  a  diligent  preacher.  After 
his  death  several  collections  of  his  sermons  were  pub- 
lished. They  exhibit  the  extreme  of  scholastic  method, 
but  also  deal  earnestly  and  practically  with  moral  and 
devotional  subjects. 

Toward  the  last  of  the  fifteenth  century  there  preached 
at  Leipzig  a  notable  man,  George  Morgenstern,  who  at- 
tacked in  unsparing  terms  the  widespread  evils  of  the 
age  in  all  classes.  He  used  the  dry  scholastic  method  of 
arrangement,  though  no  doubt  with  more  sap  and  vigor 
in  actual  delivery  than  appears  in  the  sermons. 

After  Morgenstern,  and  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
there  was  one  Pelbart,  in  Hungary,  who  enjoyed  a  great 
reputation  among  his  contemporaries  as  a  preacher  of 
unusual  merit.  In  addition  to  the  scholastic  method 
which  characterizes  his  work  there  is  evidence  of  some 
imagination  and  poetic  faculty  in  his  sermons  which  show 
therefore  traces  of  real  oratorical  power. 

The  popular  preachers  of  the  time  show  a  mingling 
of  all  the  other  elements  in  their  discourses.  Some  join 
with  the  scholastic  method  popular  gifts  and  esteem ; 
some  exhibit  marked  traces  of  mysticism ;  and  nearly  all 
are  given  to  lamenting  or  denouncing  the  current  evils 


322  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  abuses,  and  are  therefore  akin  to  those  who,  because 
of  their  evangelical  method  and  spirit,  are  more  properly 
called  reformers.  We  need  not,  however,  complicate  our 
discussion  by  attending  to  these  distinctions,  but  simply 
group  by  their  countries  the  few  selected  for  treatment. 

At  least  one  notable  preacher  of  this  popular  type  came 
originally  from  Spain,  though  he  labored  chiefly  in 
France,  where  he  died  and  was  buried.  He  was  Vincent 
Ferrar  (1357-1419),  born  of  a  respectable  and  pious 
family  at  Valencia  in  Arragon,  pious  from  childhood, 
a  Dominican  in  1374,  and  soon  distinguished  as  teacher 
and  preacher.  From  a  boy  he  was  in  love  with  preaching 
and  had  the  natural  gifts  of  an  orator.  At  his  earliest 
appearance  during  the  years  of  his  monastic  life,  his 
eloquence  attracted  wide  admiration,  and  crowds  gath- 
ered to  hear  him  wherever  he  went. 

Later  when  he  went  on  his  journeys,  especially  at  the 
head  of  a  band  of  Flagellants,  his  following  was  enor- 
mous, and  he  preached  daily.  His  preaching  is  said  to 
have  produced  amazing  results,  and  miraculous  powers 
were  attributed  to  him,  as  in  case  of  Francis  and  Antony 
before  him.  Like  them  he  was  canonized  soon  after  his 
death.  He  must  have  had  in  a  large  degree  the  power 
of  moving  discourse,  but  his  published  sermons  do  not 
bear  out  his  extraordinary  reputation,  being  in  the  dry 
scholastic  style  and  deeply  imbued  with  the  thought  and 
method  of  Thomas  Aquinas. 

In  the  Italian  preachers  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
scholastic  tendency  was  especially  marked,  but  along  with 
this  not  a  few  of  them  displayed  unusual  powers  of  popu- 
lar oratory.  Among  these,  three  are  specially  worthy  of 
mention. 

Bernardino  of  Busti  (d.  c.  1500)  was  a  Franciscan 
from  Milan  and  was  esteemed  by  his  contemporaries  as 
a  preacher  of  extraordinary  merit.  Ammon  relates  that 
whenever  on  fast  days  and  special  occasions  the  people 
of  the  towns  in  northern  Italy  desired  a  preacher  of  un- 
usual power  they  petitioned  the  Franciscan  authorities  to 
send  them  Fra  Bernardino.  In  scholastic  character  his 
discourses  resemble,  without  equalling,  those  of  Leonardo 
of  Utino,  and  many  of  them  are  without  any  oratorical 
quality.  But,  as  we  have  so  often  had  to  notice,  this 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         323 

does  not  disprove  the  real  oratorical  power  and  fervor 
of  the  actually  delivered  sermons. 

Contemporary  with  Bernardino  was  his  fellow  Fran- 
ciscan, Robert  Caracciolo  of  Lecce,  who  labored  mostly 
in  the  vicinity  of  Naples.  He  was  regarded  by  his  con- 
temporaries as  a  "  second  Paul,"  and  had  the  art  of 
moving  to  tears.  That  he  was  not  free  from  sensational 
methods  we  have  already  seen,1  but  he  too  was  capable 
of  serious  work  along  with  his  scholastic  methods  and 
his  popular  arts.  But  by  far  the  most  famous  Italian 
preacher  of  this  century,  next  to  Savonarola,  was  the 
renowned  Gabriel  Barletta  (fl.  c.  1470),  of  whom  it  was 
said  by  way  of  proverb,  Qui  nescit  Barlettare,  nescit 
pradicare — if  one  does'nt  know  how  to  preach  like  Bar- 
letta he  doesn't  know  how  to  preach  at  all.  He  was  born 
at  Barletta  near  Naples,  and  took  his  name  from  his 
birthplace.  As  a  preacher  of  the  Dominican  order  he 
preached  in  many  different  places  in  Italy,  but  very  little 
is  recorded  of  his  life.  A  curious  collection  of  sermons, 
or  reports  of  sermons,  has  come  down  from  him.  He 
undoubtedly  must  have  preached  in  Italian,  but  these 
sermons  are  reported  in  barbarous  Latin,  with  frequent 
interlarding  of  Italian  words  and  whole  phrases.  Dis- 
courses of  this  kind  are  called  "  maccaroni  sermons." 
They  are  not  infrequent  in  the  French  mediaeval  collec- 
tions, as  Lecoy  de  la  Marche  and  others  tell  us,  but 
Barletta's  are  the  only  real  specimens  in  Italian.  Ma- 
renco  2  thinks  that  the  sermons  were  certainly  delivered 
in  Italian,  but  that  the  half-learned  reporter  gave  them 
in  Latin  as  best  he  could,  but  where  the  Latin  was  not 
at  hand  for  phrases  or  words,  he  simply  gave  the  Italian. 
As  they  stand,  therefore,  the  sermons  are  curious  speci- 
mens of  reporting  and  of  diction.  But  beneath  their  bar- 
barous jargon  their  method  and  matter  are  worthy  of 
note.  Scholasticism  was  in  them,  to  be  sure,  but  the 
popular  note  is  predominant.  The  preacher  deals  in 
legend  and  anecdote  to  a  remarkable  degree,  often  de- 
scending to  the  burlesque,  the  comic,  and  even  the  inane 
and  silly.  He  is  a  preacher  to  the  crowd,  the  unenlight- 
ened mass  that  loves  entertainment  and  spice,  and  is  not 
too  particular  as  to  the  quality  of  it  either  as  regards  taste 
*Ante,  p.  303.  "Cap.  I. 


324  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

or  good  sense.  The  vulgar  and  coarse,  as  well  as  the 
ridiculous  and  irreverent,  are  here,  but  we  should  do 
Barletta  injustice  to  suppose  that  this  was  all  or  the 
main  thing  in  his  work.  He  was  an  earnest  man  and 
used  these  trifles  rather  as  means  than  as  ends.  He  spoke 
with  courage  and  effect  against  the  evils  of  the  time, 
and  did  not  descend  so  low  with  the  light  and  sensational 
methods  as  did  many  of  his  contemporaries.  He  knew 
how  to  treat  with  more  than  usual  delicacy  and  good 
sense  such  themes  as  conjugal  love  and  the  dance.1  Other 
moral  subjects  engaged  his  attention  also,  and  he  had  the 
art  of  speaking  to  the  point,  and  at  the  same  time  to  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers. 

There  were  in  France  during  this  epoch  a  number  of 
preachers  of  the  popular  sort,  among  whom  the  most 
notable  were  Maillard  and  Menot.  Olivier  Maillard 
(fl.  c.  1500)  was  born  in  Brittany  in  the  fifteenth  century 
and  died  early  in  the  sixteenth,  exact  dates  being  uncer- 
tain. He  was  a  Franciscan,  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne, 
and  celebrated  as  a  preacher,  especially  at  the  church  of 
St.  Jean  en  Grave  at  Paris.  He  also  served  as  court 
preacher  at  times  both  for  Louis  XL  of  France  and  for 
the  duke  of  Burgundy.  Pope  Innocent  VIIL,  King 
Charles  VIIL  of  France,  and  Ferdinand  of  Castile  all 
honored  him  with  commissions  of  importance,  which  he 
discharged  with  fidelity  and  skill.  In  1501  he  was 
charged  by  the  pope  with  the  hard  and  thankless  task 
of  reforming  the  Franciscan  order  in  France.  He  bravely 
undertook  to  do  what  he  was  told,  but  was  resisted  and 
even  chased  from  one  of  the  monasteries  as  a  false 
brother.  He  paid  back  this  debt,  however,  very  richly 
in  his  sermons,  where  he  depicted  and  excoriated  the 
corruptions  of  his  brethren  in  no  sweet  fashion. 

His  reputation  is  founded  principally  on  a  series  of 
sermons  which  he  preached  in  Paris  probably  between 
1494  and  1508.  They  were  a  holy  terror.  They  spared 
no  class,  nor  person.  King,  nobles,  priests,  ladies,  and 
the  people  generally  were  attacked  with  a  boldness  that  is 
commendable  indeed,  but  with  a  bitterness  of  spirit  that 
could  not  have  been  edifying,  and  a  coarseness  of  lan- 
guage that  is  without  excuse  even  in  that  age  of  license. 
1  Examples  given  in  Ammon,  S.  131  ff. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          325 

The  preacher  borrowed  the  language  of  the  lowest — the 
slang  of  the  streets  and  the  vulgarities  of  the  dissolute.1 
Once  the  king,  Louis  XL,  was  so  plainly  attacked  that 
on  Maillard's  language  being  reported  to  him  he  natu- 
rally took  offence  and  sent  the  preacher  word  that  if  he 
went  on  in  that  style  he  should  be  put  into  a  sack  and 
drowned.  Maillard  replied,  "  Go,  tell  your  master  that  I 
shall  then  reach  paradise  sooner  by  water  than  he  can 
with  his  post-horses."  This  was  an  allusion  to  the  fact 
that  Louis  XL  had  recently  introduced  post-horses  in 
France.  It  does  not  appear  either  that  Maillard  changed 
his  course  or  that  Louis  executed  his  threat.  No  doubt 
there  was  exaggeration  and  excess  of  invective  in  Mail- 
lard as  well  as  lack  of  poise  and  taste,  but  he  meant  well, 
and  his  boldness  and  fidelity  should  not  be  forgotten,  even 
though  his  spirit  and  style  cannot  be  excused. 

Contemporary  and  like-minded  with  Maillard  was  his 
brother  Franciscan,  Michel  Menot  (d.  1518),  the  place 
and  date  of  whose  birth  are  unknown.  He  lived  in  the 
reigns  of  Louis  XL,  Charles  VIII.,  Louis  XII.,  and 
Francis  I.  For  a  long  time  he  taught  theology  in  the 
Franciscan  school  at  Paris,  and  died  there  in  1518.  He 
enjoyed  so  great  a  reputation  as  preacher  that  he  was 
called  Langue  d'Or,  the  Golden  Tongue.  His  sermons 
were  taken  down  by  hearers,  reported  in  the  barbarous 
maccaroni  style  of  mingled  French  and  (alleged)  Latin, 
printed  in  many  editions.  They  must,  therefore,  be  taken 
with  some  allowances,  but  as  we  have  them  they  exceed 
those  of  Barletta  and  Maillard  in  coarseness  and  buffoon- 
ery. They  portray  a  terrible  state  of  affairs  in  French 
society  at  that  time,  and  are  themselves,  in  spite  of  good 
purposes  and  a  courageous  spirit,  a  mournful  comment 
on  the  religion  and  taste  of  the  age. 

The  greatest  German  preacher  of  the  popular  type  in 
this  time  was  John  Geiler  of  Kaisersberg2  (1445-1510), 
who  passed  most  of  his  active  life  as  preacher  in  Stras- 
burg.  He  was  born  at  Schaffhausen,  early  lost  his 
father  and  was  brought  up  by  his  grandparents  at 

1  Meray,  op.  cit.,  and  an  art.  in  the  Nouvelle  Biographie  Univer- 
selle. 

2  All  the  German  authorities  on  the  period  devote  considerable 
attention  to  him,  but  the  discussion  of  Cruel,  S.  538  ff,  is  particu- 
larly good,  and  is  mainly  followed  here. 


326  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

Kaisersberg,  whence  his  surname.  He  pursued  his  stud- 
ies at  Freiburg  and  became  a  professor  of  philosophy 
there;  but  soon  turned  his  attention  to  theology  and  to 
preaching.  He  found  his  work  in  the  pulpit,  and  in  1478 
accepted  a  call  to  Strasburg,  where,  in  the  Minster,  a 
preaching  office  had  been  endowed  without  the  cares  of 
the  priesthood.  This  suited  Geiler  exactly,  and  here  he 
did  the  most  of  his  work,  though  at  the  request  of  the 
bishop  of  Augsburg  he  spent  some  time  there  during 
1488-89 ;  and  in  Strasburg  and  vicinity  he  often  preached 
in  other  churches  and  in  the  cloisters.  At  the  cathedral 
during  the  summer  and  festival  seasons  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  preach  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  at  other 
churches  and  in  the  cloister  at  three  in  the  afternoon. 

Geiler's  sermons  have  come  down  in  various  German 
editions,  and  as  they  stand  are  but  imperfect  reports  of 
his  actual  utterances.  He  wrote  out  and  published  none 
himself,  but  from  his  Latin  sketches  and  the  notes  of 
hearers  these  sermons  have  been  worked  out.  But  even 
thus  they  show  the  characteristics  of  the  man  and  reveal 
a  preacher  of  no  ordinary  popular  gifts  and  power.  Like 
his  Italian  and  French  contemporaries  he  descended  to 
the  coarse  and  comic  to  a  considerable  degree,  and  far 
beyond  the  bounds  of  good  taste  even  in  that  age;  like 
them,  also,  he  attacked  with  sharp  invective  and  reckless 
daring  the  sins  of  all  classes — people,  clergy,  and  rulers. 
His  course  made  him  enemies,  who  resorted  to  a  number 
of  petty  persecutions  to  spite  him — such  as  employing  the 
choir  boys  to  mock  during  the  service,  the  writing  of 
abusive  and  indecent  letters,  following  him  with  derisive 
calls  and  mimicries  as  he  went  on  the  streets,  and  other 
annoyances  of  the  sort.  But  he  went  on  his  way  un- 
moved, and  he  won  great  favor,  attracted  large  crowds, 
and  secured  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  many  men 
of  influence,  including  the  emperor  Maximilian,  who 
"  wrote  to  him  frequently,  received  visits  from  him,  heard 
him  preach,  and  received  with  kindness  and  interest  cer- 
tain moral  counsels  which  Geiler  gave  him — to  restore 
peace,  to  do  equal  justice  to  all,  and  to  put  an  end  to  the 
plunderings  that  had  then  gained  the  upper  hand."  1 

Though  free  with  his  tongue,  and  not  averse  to  wine 

1  Ammon,  S.  219. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         327 

and  rough  jokes,  Geiler  was  otherwise  above  reproach  in 
his  life  and  earnest  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties.  As  a  man  he  was  of  kindly,  frank,  accessible 
disposition ;  conscious  of  personal  rectitude  without  pride, 
and  bold  in  attacking  sin  without  personal  grudge  or  un- 
sympathetic harshness  toward  the  penitent.  He  was  a 
close  observer  and  had  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
human  nature,  and  with  all  the  details  of  life  in  his  time. 
His  illustrations,  like  those  of  Beecher  'and  Spurgeon 
in  modern  times,  are  drawn  from  many  sources.  Like- 
wise he  was  a  wide  reader  and  well  educated,  and  his 
sermons  show  excellent  labor  put  on  his  preparation.  If 
he  lacked  the  higher  degree  of  originality  he  at  least 
knew  how  to  make  good  and  individual  use  of  what  he 
learned  from  others.  So  there  appear  in  his  sermons 
traces  of  both  scholastic  learning  and  mystic  contempla- 
tion; but  he  was  above  all  and  chiefly  a  preacher  to  the 
people. 

A  curious  specimen  of  his  work  is  the  series  of  seven 
sermons  on  "  The  Hare  in  the  Pepper,"  that  is,  the 
seasoned,  or  spiced,  hare.  There  are  two  texts  for  all 
seven:  Lev.  11:6,  and  (chiefly)  Prov.  30:26:  "The 
conies  are  but  a  feeble  folk,  yet  make  they  their  houses 
in  the  rocks."  He  compares  the  Christian  to  a  hare 
under  fourteen  points,  derived  from  the  habits  and  fate 
of  that  animal,  treating  one  or  several  of  the  lessons  in 
each  discourse,  thus:  "  I.  The  hare  is  timid,  so  the 
Christian  lives  in  the  fear  of  God.  2.  It  is  swift  in  run- 
ning, so  is  the  spiritual  person  swift  in  good  things  and 
finds  nothing  too  hard.  3.  It  runs  quicker  up  than  down 
the  mountain,  so  the  Christian  up  the  mountain  of  God. 

4.  Dogs  are  set  upon  the  hare,  so  the  evil  spirits  upon  us. 

5.  It  rests  its  safety  upon  flight,  so  must  we  flee  before 
evil  assaults.    6.  It  continually  moves  its  lips  and  mum- 
bles, so  should  we  continually  fear  God.     7.  It  has  long 
ears,   so  also  should  the  Christian  have  long  ears,  in 
order  to  hear  with  diligence  and  eagerness  the  word  of 
God.    8.  It  makes  its  resting  place  in  the  rocks,  that  is, 
for  us,  Christ.    9.  The  skin  of  the  hare  must  be  removed, 
so  must  we  lay  off  a  threefold  skin :  temporal  good,  our 
own  will,  outward  works.     10.  It  is  roasted  in  the  fire, 
so  we  in  sufferings  and  adversities,     n.  It  is  basted,  so 


328  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

must  we  baste  ourselves  with  the  sauce  of  God's  grace, 
with  devotion  and  divine  love.  12.  It  must  be  tested, 
whether  it  is  well  roasted  or  not,  so  must  we  test  our- 
selves. 13.  It  must  be  put  in  the  pepper,  that  is  the 
cloister *  and  all  therein  which  nips  and  burns  our 
human  nature  like  pepper.  So  also  must  persons  out 
in  the  world  lay  on  themselves  many  self-denials  and 
penances.  14.  The  hare  is  brought  on  golden  plates  to 
the  table,  so  shall  we  also  some  time  be  set  before  God 
as  a  pleasant  savor  in  the  heavenly  kingdom  and  be  by 
him  consumed  and  incorporated  with  himself." 

This  last  thought  is  worked  out  thus :  "  The  hare  is  put 
into  two  golden  plates  and  set  on  the  table  before  the 
king,  where  it  is  received  with  pleasure  and  eaten  and 
incorporated  with  the  king  and  made  one  with  him.  So 
also  the  believing  Christian,  when  he  has  been  prepared 
in  the  way  before  described,  is  borne  by  the  hands  of 
the  holy  angels  on  the  two  golden  plates  of  glory — body 
and  soul — into  everlasting  bliss  before  the  face  of  the 
heavenly  King.  And  as  the  hare  is  eaten  by  the  king, 
so  thou,  through  an  unspeakable  benevolence,  love  and 
joy,  art  sunken  in  God  and  made  one  with  him.  Not 
essentially,  as  the  heretic  Amalrich  said,2  but  heartily 
through  clear  knowledge,  love  and  joy.  There  is  man 
again  in  his  source,  there  has  he  first  peace,  rest,  and  bliss, 
there  has  the  little  hare  first  rightly  reached  its  resting 
place  in  the  rocks,  there  its  fear  has  disappeared,  its  heart 
flutters  no  more,  it  dreads  not,  for  it  is  safe  and  knows 
it  is  safe.  There  it  experiences  what  was  promised,  that 
God  will  dry  all  tears  and  henceforth  there  will  be  neither 
weeping  nor  pain.  There  will  come  true  what  the  Lord 
has  said,  that  the  humble  shall  be  exalted.  The  little 
hare  that  ran  despised  here  in  the  vale  of  tears,  was 
hunted  by  hellish  dogs,  flayed  and  roasted,  comes  now 
to  great  honor." 

This  gentler  strain  was  not,  however,  the  most  char- 
acteristic thing  in  Geiler's  work.  His  "  Ship  of  Fools  " 
and  other  collections  of  sermons  give  forth  the  sterner, 
coarser,  and  less  pleasing,  but  also  more  vigorous  and 
effective  parts  of  his  method.  Altogether  he  is  a  de- 

1The  sermons  were  preached  in  a  nunnery. 

*  Amalrich  of  Bena,  a  mystic  of  the  extreme  Eckhart  school. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         329 

cidedly  important  character  in  his  age,  and  did  something 
to  arouse  the  German  mind  preparatory  to  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

Coming  to  the  Netherlands  we  must  go  back  to  an 
earlier  date  and  place  ourselves  in  the  second  half  of 
the  fourteenth  century.  Here  we  find  among  the  popular 
preachers  a  man  remarkable  for  his  personal  piety,  his 
excellent  success  in  preaching,  and  his  abiding  influence 
on  the  best  religious  life  of  the  age.  It  is  Gerhard  Groot x 
(1349-1384),  the  noble  preacher  and  the  founder  of  the 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life.  Groot  was  born  of 
wealthy  and  excellent  family  at  Deventer,  the  only  son 
of  his  parents.  He  was  weakly  in  body  but  eager  in 
mind,  and  received  a  good  education  at  home,  at  Paris,  at 
Cologne.  Returning  home  well  prepared  in  culture  for 
the  work  of  a  priest,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  places 
for  beginning  his  work,  and  accepted  a  subordinate  posi- 
tion at  Utrecht.  Well  off  and  cultured,  with  a  taste  for 
luxury  and  pleasure,  it  looked  as  if  he  must  go  the  way 
of  the  worldly  clergy.  But  soon  a  deeper  life  was  awak- 
ened within  him  by  the  influence  and  pleading  of  a  pious 
friend  whom  he  had  won  at  Paris,  and  who  visited  him 
at  Utrecht,  and  dealt  lovingly  and  faithfully  with  him. 
It  is  a  beautiful  incident,  creditable  alike  to  both  the 
men.  Gerhard  changed  his  course,  burnt  his  costly  books 
on  magic,  gave  up  his  income,  put  off  his  fine  clothes  for 
a  coarse  gray  garment,  and  withdrew  for  ascetic  prac- 
tices, devotion,  and  further  study  to  a  Carthusian  mon- 
astery at  Gueldres.  Here  he  spent  three  years,  when  his 
active  nature  drove  him  forth  to  live  and  work  among 
his  fellowmen.  He  shrank  from  the  responsibilities  of 
the  priesthood,  but  was  ordained  a  deacon,  and  this  gave 
him  the  right  of  public  instruction  by  preaching. 

In  this  humble  spirit  Groot  began  his  wonderful  career 
as  a  travelling  popular  preacher.  He  had  pronounced 
success  from  the  start ;  for  back  of  his  admirable  prepara- 
tion, there  lay  both  the  natural  talent  for  public  speech 
and  the  earnestness  of  a  soul  bent  on  serving  God  and 
doing  good  to  men.  Thomas  a  Kempis  said  of  Groot  that 
he  worked  in  the  spirit  of  John  the  Baptist.  People  of 
all  classes  thronged  to  hear  him,  wherever  he  came,  and 

1  Ullmann,  Reformatoren  vor  der  Ref.,  Bd.  II.,  S.  54  ff. 


33°  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

he  called  them  to  repentance  and  faith.  It  was  not  only 
his  eloquence  and  earnestness  of  speech  that  drew  them, 
but  men  saw  and  felt  the  power  of  his  blameless  and  con- 
secrated life.  He  refused  pay  for  his  services,  and  sought 
no  ecclesiastical  preferment.  It  was  said  of  him — prec- 
ious eulogium  upon  a  preacher — Fecit  quod  dixit;  sicut 
docuit,  quoque  vixit.  He  sought  to  know  the  experiences 
of  the  people  and  to  adapt  his  preaching  to  their  needs, 
and  he  preached  in  the  popular  tongue.  His  zeal  was 
unwearied,  the  fruits  of  his  labors  rich  in  conversions 
and  real  amendment  of  life. 

But  his  success  and  his  rebukes  made  him  enemies 
among  the  worldly  clergy,  whose  vices  he  knew  and  de- 
nounced, and  by  their  representations  he  was  deprived  of 
his  permission  to  preach.  Friends  laid  the  case  before 
the  pope,  but  the  appeal  was  in  vain.  Groot  submitted  to 
the  authority  of  his  ecclesiastical  superiors  and  gave  up 
preaching,  but  turned  his  attention  to  teaching  unofficially 
and  quietly  among  the  people.  Here  also  his  success  was 
great.  A  visit  to  the  aged  mystic,  John  Ruysbroek,  at 
his  abbey  near  Brussels,  impressed  Groot  not  only  with 
the  beauty  of  the  mystical  life,  but  also  with  the  orderly 
and  peaceful  way  in  which  the  monks  lived  together. 
He  came  away  with  the  idea  in  his  mind  that  pious  men 
without  monastic  vows  might  live  in  common  to  learn 
and  teach.  His  views  found  acceptance  with  friends, 
and  so  arose  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life,  a  sort  of 
pious  society  for  mutual  edification,  which  speedily  con- 
cerned itself  with  the  education  of  the  poor.  The  brother- 
hood grew  and  extended,  and  many  a  poor  scholar — 
Erasmus  among  them,  and  John  Wessel — afterwards  re- 
ceived instruction  in  early  life  in  the  schools  of  this 
society.  Busied  with  his  order,  and  his  teaching,  Groot 
died  in  the  midst  of  his  years  and  his  usefulness — having 
caught  the  plague  from  visiting  a  sick  friend — when  only 
thirty-four  years  of  age.  His  sermons  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  reported  and  preserved,  but  the  influence  of  his 
life  and  of  his  brotherhood  was  great  in  producing  other 
preachers  of  evangelical  tendency  and  in  preparing  the 
way  for  the  Reformation. 

In  England  as  in  the  Netherlands  and  generally  in  Ger- 
many, the  popular  preaching  was  characterized  by  a  more 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          331 

seriously  reformatory  spirit  than  was  the  case  in  Italy 
and  France.  Wiclif  and  his  preachers,  and  afterwards 
the  Lollards,  did  the  most  of  this  work;  but  they  come 
more  naturally  under  the  reformatory  preachers. 

The  mystic  preachers  of  the  period  are  naturally  fewer 
in  number  than  those  of  the  other  types,  but  some  of  them 
were  very  notable  and  influential  men.  The  geographical 
happens  here  to  be  also  the  chronological  order,  and  we 
have  to  do  with  only  three  countries — the  Netherlands, 
France,  Germany. 

The  earliest  important  representative  of  mysticism  in 
the  Netherlands  was  John  of  Ruysbroek1  (1293-1381), 
who  was  born  at  a  village  from  which  he  took  his  sur- 
name, near  Brussels,  late  in  the  thirteenth  century.  He 
lived  to  a  great  age,  reaching  over  to  the  latter  part  of 
the  fourteenth  century.  He  was  much  influenced  by 
Tauler.  At  eleven  years  of  age  he  was  put  to  school  at 
Brussels,  where  he  studied  four  years.  Nothing  is  re- 
corded of  any  further  schooling,  and  through  life  he  was 
more  devoted  to  piety  than  to  learning.  At  twenty-four 
years  of  age  he  was  ordained  a  priest  and  appointed  to 
a  church  in  Brussels.  He  was  often  seen  sunk  in  deep 
meditation  in  the  streets,  not  noticing  the  crowd.  But 
in  his  teaching  he  warned  against  mere  ecstatic  mysti- 
cism and  contended  for  a  deep  inward  piety.  Up  to  his 
sixtieth  year  he  exercised  the  priest's  office  in  Brussels 
with  fidelity,  but  not  much  is  known  of  the  character 
and  effect  of  his  preaching.  But  the  attractiveness  of  the 
contemplative  life  so  grew  upon  him  that  he  retired  about 
1363  to  a  newly  founded  Augustinian  cloister  near  Brus- 
sels, where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  long  and  peace- 
ful life.  Here  he  gave  himself  to  meditation  and  writing 
and  to  instructing  the  many  who  came  to  learn  from  the 
pious  old  man  the  life  of  self-denial  and  love  to  God. 
Among  these  visitors,  as  we  have  seen,  was  Gerhard 
Groot.  Ruysbroek's  writings  reveal  a  mysticism  less  pro- 
found than  Eckhart's,  less  practical  than  Tauler's,  but 
he  had  some  affinities  with  both,  without  being  so  great 
as  either.  In  preaching  and  teaching  as  well  as  by  per- 
sonal character,  he  made  his  mysticism  profoundly  and 
fruitfully  influential  upon  others,  and  his  work  was  one 

1  Ullmann  gives  also  a  good  account  of  Ruysbroek. 


332  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

of  those  far-off  but  important  steps  which  led  to  the  re- 
form preaching  and  life  in  later  years. 

Gerhard  Groot  has  already  been  noticed  among  the 
popular  preachers,  but  he  belongs  here  also,  as  he  had 
decidedly  mystical  traits ;  and  he  also  claims  mention  here 
as  a  necessary  connecting  link  between  Ruysbroek  and  the 
other  great  Netherlands  mystic  who  has  filled  the  Chris- 
tian world  with  the  odor  of  sanctity  in  his  famous  writ- 
ing— The  Imitation  of  Christ. 

Thomas  a  Kempis  (1380-1471)  was  born  of  humble 
and  hard-working  parents  at  a  little  Dutch  village  not 
very  far  from  Cologne,  called  Kempen,  from  which  his 
surname  is  taken.  The  family  name  was  Hamerken,  but 
the  other  is  so  well  established  that  it  has  usurped  the 
place  of  a  surname.  The  boy  early  showed  both  intelli- 
gence and  piety  and  was  glad  to  avail  himself  of  the 
free  education  offered  to  poor  children  by  the  Brethren 
of  the  Common  Life.  After  having  been  aided  for  a  time 
by  their  funds  he  entered  their  house  at  Deventer.  Here 
a  congenial  friend,  and  the  excellent  head  of  the  school, 
Florentius,  successor  to  Groot,  both  had  great  influence 
on  the  youth,  and  he  was  drawn  to  the  life  of  contempla- 
tive piety.  After  several  years  he  was  advised  by  Floren- 
tius that  if  he  desired  to  lead  the  contemplative  life  he 
should  enter  a  monastery.  This  delighted  Thomas,  and 
he  soon  entered  the  Augustinian  convent  of  St.  Agnes 
near  Zwoll.  For  five  years  he  remained  a  novice,  then 
was  made  priest,  and  later  superior.  Here  his  life  flowed 
quietly  on  to  its  end  at  the  age  of  more  than  ninety  years. 
Exercises  of  devotion,  writing  and  copying,  reading, 
preaching,  and  exhorting  the  novices,  the  brethren  and 
many  visitors  who  came  to  hear  him,  occupied  his  time. 
Many  of  his  sermons  remain,  and  they  exhibit  the  sweet 
restfulness,  the  purity,  the  love,  the  quiet  devoutness  that 
we  would  expect  from  the  author  of  the  Imitation  of 
Christ.1  Thomas  a  Kempis  was  a  thoroughgoing  Catho- 
lic and  monk,  and  his  views  are  not  by  any  means  all 

1  The  question  of  the  authorship  of  this  gem  of  devotional  liter- 
ature cannot  be  regarded  as  settled  beyond  doubt,  but  the  better 
opinion  among  critics  seems  to  be  that  which  I  heard  Prof. 
Hauck  of  Leipzig  express  in  a  lecture,  namely,  that  the  claims  of 
Thomas  are  the  best,  and  that  if  not  his,  the  work  must  be  re- 
garded as  anonymous. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         333 

sound  or  evangelical,  but  he  was  mystical,  pious,  devoted. 
His  influence  was  all  in  favor  of  purity  and  reform  within 
the  church,  and  the  total  effect  of  his  life  and  work  has 
been  sweet  and  helpful. 

In  France  we  find  a  practical  mystic  in  the  famous 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  Paris,  Jean  Charlier 
(1363  1429),  who  was  born  at  a  little  place  called  Ger- 
son,  near  Rheims,  and,  like  so  many  others,  is  called  from 
his  birthplace  rather  than  by  his  family  name.  He  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Paris,  and  in  1408  was 
pastor  of  one  of  the  leading  churches  there.  His  view 
of  preaching  is  set  forth  in  a  passage x  from  one  of  his 
sermons :  "  Many  believe  that  sermons  should  be  de- 
livered only  that  the  people  may  learn  and  know  some- 
thing that  they  did  not  know  before.  Hence  their  scorn- 
ful saying,  '  What  is  preaching  to  me  ?  I  already  know 
more  good  than  I  am  willing  to  do.'  But  these  people 
are  in  error ;  for  sermons  are  not  delivered  for  this  reason 
only,  that  one  may  learn  something,  but  also  for  this 
reason,  to  move  the  heart  and  inclination  so  that  they  shall 
love,  desire,  and  accomplish  that  which  is  good.  There- 
fore the  apostle  desires  not  so  much  that  one  should  learn 
what  is  in  Christ  as  that  he  should  be  likemirided  with 
him.  They,  however,  who  attend  sermons  only  to  learn 
something  new  are  like  those  of  whom  the  apostle  writes 
that  they  are  ever  learning  and  yet  know  nothing."  In 
his  preaching  Gerson  boldly  and  decidedly  attacked 
abuses  and  degeneracy,  especially  in  the  ignorant,  worldly, 
and  greedy  clergy.  He  had  accurate  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  a  keen  observation,  and  much  experience  of  men 
and  things.  A  Catholic  critic  z  says  of  him  that  he  had 
"  quickness  of  comprehension,  penetration  of  judgment, 
rich  experience  and  blooming  fancy,  extensive  reading 
in  ancient  classics,  solid  rhetorical  structure,  fundamental 
knowledge  of  philosophy  and  theology.  Further  he  had 
an  admirable  familiarity  with  the  Holy  Scripture."  This 
is  high  praise,  but  it  has  to  be  discounted  by  the  fact 
that  Gerson  did  not  rise  above  the  scholastic  and  allego- 
rizing methods  current  in  his  day.  And  the  moral 
quality  of  his  work,  high  as  it  undoubtedly  is,  must  also 

1  Quoted  by  Rothe,  S.  300. 

*  Art.  in  Wezter  und  Welte's  Kirchenlexicon. 


334  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

be  painfully  discounted  by  the  pettiness  and  casuistry 
he  displays  in  treating  certain  questions.1 

Gerson  was  active  at  the  Council  of  Constance,  and 
boldly  sided  with  the  progressive  party  there  in  holding 
that  the  council  was  superior  to  the  pope  and  had  the 
right  to  depose  the  three  claimants  and  elect  a  new  pope. 
Having  denounced  the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
he  became  unacceptable  to  the  court  in  France  and  could 
not  return  there.  He  first  found  a  refuge  in  Austria,  but 
later  went  to  Lyons  and  lived  there  in  a  convent  of 
which  his  brother  was  prior,  occupying  himself  in  his 
later  years  in  teaching  little  children.  He  was  among 
the  most  influential  ecclesiastics  and  preachers  of  his 
time,  and  his  own  life  was  above  reproach. 

It  would  be  strange  if  in  Germany  no  trace  of  mysti- 
cism should  be  found  among  the  preachers  of  this  epoch, 
and  doubtless  there  was  more  of  it  than  comes  to  the 
surface  or  renders  itself  conspicuous.  For,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  no  specially  distinguished  mystical  preacher  ap- 
pears among  the  Germans  of  the  time.  There  are  two 
men,  however,  who  though  not  of  the  highest  rank  as 
either  preachers  or  thinkers  claim  at  least  brief  notice. 

John  Veghe 2  (d.  1504)  was  the  son  of  a  citizen  of 
Munster,  and  is  mentioned  in  1451  as  a  member  of  the 
Miinster  house  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life. 
He  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  rector,  and  in  1481 
was  made  rector  of  the  Sisters'  house  at  Niesink.  His 
"  collations,"  in  the  low  German  dialect,  have  been  pub- 
lished and  favorably  noticed  by  several  German  critics. 
From  these  notices  it  is  gathered  that  Veghe  did  not 
adhere  closely  to  the  scholastic  form  in  preaching,  though 
he  was  fond  of  making  a  series  of  "points."  He  made 
a  rather  practical  use  of  some  of  Eckhart's  ideas,  and  in 
one  place  there  is  a  clear  and  bold  utterance  against  the 
abuse  of  indulgences.  The  sermons  have  the  Catholic 
contents,  leaning  much  on  Augustine,  but  with  a  practical 
mysticism,  which  though  below  the  measure  of  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  is  yet  rather  in  his  vein.  They  show  also 

1  Quite  a  list — and  a  very  unedifying  one — is  given  by  Ammon, 
S.  70  ff.  Among  other  things  he  defends  the  not  uncommon  but 
no  less  astounding  theory  that  a  monk's  vow  of  chastity  would 
be  broken  by  marriage,  but  not  by  occasional  sensual  indulgence. 

*  Hering,  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  83. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          335 

warmth,  devotion,  elevation,  and  purity  of  spirit  char- 
acteristic of  the  better  type  of  mystical  preaching. 

The  other  representative  mystic  is  the  better  known  and 
highly  esteemed  John  Staupitz  (d.  1524),  who,  though 
not  very  strong  as  a  preacher,  yet  by  his  piety,  his  per- 
sonal influence,  and  most  of  all  by  his  relations  to  Luther, 
occupies  an  important  place  in  the  early  history  of  the 
Reformation.  The  place  and  date  of  his  birth  are  un- 
known, and  nothing  definite  of  his  parentage  is  recorded, 
except  that  he  was  of  good  family  in  Meissen.  He  was 
educated  at  Leipzig  and  Tubingen,  where  he  received  his 
doctor's  degree,  and  was  prior  of  an  Augustinian  mon- 
astery. Later  he  was  made  vicar-general  of  this  order, 
and  was  appointed  by  Frederick  the  Wise  professor  in  the 
newly  founded  university  at  Wittenberg.  On  a  visit  to 
Erfurt  he  met  the  young  Martin  Luther,  then  much 
troubled  with  doubts  and  fears,  and  took  a  warm  interest 
in  the  young  monk.  He  pointed  Luther  to  Christ  alone 
as  the  ground  of  hope,  interested  himself  in  his  promo- 
tion to  Wittenberg,  and  was  at  first  warmly  sympathetic 
with  his  attack  upon  the  abuses  in  the  church.  But 
Luther  went  too  fast  and  too  far  for  Staupitz,  who  never 
gave  up  his  Catholic  views  or  connection,  though  he  was 
favorable  to  reform  within  the  church.  Later  Staupitz 
transferred  from  the  Augustinian  to  the  Benedictine 
order  and  spent  his  latter  years  chiefly  in  southern  Ger- 
many, where  he  died  in  1524. 

As  a  preacher  Staupitz  had  no  preeminence  of  talent,' 
but  was  heard  with  interest  and  profit.  He  held  the  mys- 
tical doctrine  of  the  union  with  Christ  by  losing  self  in 
him  through  contemplation.  He  was  not  at  all  an  orig- 
inal thinker  in  any  line.  But  he  is  chiefly  memorable 
to  Protestants  because  of  his  helpful  friendship  to  Luther 
in  the  early  formative  stage  of  the  great  reformer's 
career,  and  is  more  notable  for  the  purity  and  piety  of 
his  life  than  for  high  intellectual  achievements  of  any 
kind. 

In  general,  these  mystics  are  an  important  link  in  the 
chain  of  influences  connecting  the  Reformation  with  the 
more  evangelical  types  of  life  which  existed  and  per- 
sisted through  the  dark  times  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries. 


A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

2.    THE  PREACHERS  OF  REFORM 

The  history  of  preaching  has  already  often  shown  us 
that  in  the  times  of  its  highest  prosperity  the  things  that 
make  for  decline  are  ever  present  and  active,  and  that 
in  the  times  of  its  lowest  depression  the  forces  of  reform 
and  purification  are  never  wholly  absent.  In  these  two 
centuries  of  comparative  decline  which  intervened  be- 
tween the  great  Catholic  revival  of  preaching  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  the  greater  Protestant  revival  which 
glorified  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth,  the  better  ele- 
ments of  preaching  were  not  entirely  lacking,  and  the 
forces  were  slowly  gathering  which  out  of  the  corrupted 
mass  of  mediaeval  decay  were  to  produce  the  great  evan- 
gelical preaching  of  the  Reformation.  So  we  study  some 
of  the  reform  preachers,  beginning  with  those  in  the 
far  West. 

Up  to  this  time  England  has  played  no  great  part  in 
the  history  of  preaching.  She  has  had  preachers  among 
her  priests  and  monks,  but  none  of  extraordinary  merit 
or  wide  reputation.  But  now  she  furnishes  to  the  world 
the  "  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation,"  and  with  the 
beginning  of  that  tendency  enters  upon  a  glorious  career 
in  this  as  in  other  departments  of  history.  From  now  on 
her  preachers  rank  with  the  first  in  respect  of  character, 
power,  and  enduring  fame. 

The  great  preacher  and  reform  leader,  John  Wiclif  * 
( 1320-1384),  was  born  about  the  year  1320  of  good  family 
near  Richmond  in  Yorkshire.  The  social  standing  of  his 
people  was  excellent,  and  they  probably  had  some  means. 
The  boy  received  good  education  and  was  early  sent  to 
Oxford,  where  he  distinguished  himself  successively  as 
student,  scholar,  teacher,  and  preacher.  Oxford  was  hence- 
forth the  center  and  principal  scene  of  his  life  and  work. 
Wiclif's  career  as  a  preacher  began  in  1361,  when  he  was 
ordained  to  the  priesthood.  Immediately  his  preaching 
and  writings  began  to  attract  attention,  for  his  word  was 
with  power.  He  held  various  places  as  a  preacher  while 
residing,  studying,  lecturing,  and  writing  at  Oxford. 

In  1374  the  king  appointed  him  to  the  parish  of  Lutter- 

1  The  surname  seems  to  be  local,  as  was  so  often  the  case,  and 
to  denote  a  cliff  of  the  river  Wye — Wye-cliff — shortened  to  Wiclif. 
Among  the  variety  of  spellings  the  simplest  one  is  adopted  in  the 
text. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          337 

worth,  and  he  held  this  place  to  his  death.  With  it  his 
name  is  inseparably  associated,  for  here  he  did  the  most 
of  his  work,  as  priest  and  preacher,  though  living  chiefly 
at  Oxford. 

Besides  his  regular  parochial  work  at  Lutterworth 
Wiclif  often  preached  in  other  places,  and  his  preaching 
was  very  acceptable  to  the  people  wherever  he  went.  In 
London  he  was  heard  with  great  admiration  by  court  and 
people,  but  naturally  not  by  the  clergy,  whose  worldliness 
and  unfitness  he  was  already  attacking  with  power.  Be- 
cause of  political  sympathies  he  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the 
powerful  statesman,  John  of  Gaunt,  whose  protection  was 
worth  much  to  the  reformer  in  his  bold  attacks  on  the 
clergy  and  the  papacy. 

Notwithstanding  Wiclif  s  favor  with  the  court  and  the 
people,  his  clerical  enemies  finally  plucked  up  courage  to 
call  the  bold  preacher  to  account  for  his  caustic  utter- 
ances. In  1377  charges  of  heresy  and  other  things  were 
brought  against  him  before  the  Bishop  of  London.  But 
the  trial  was  broken  up  by  a  brawl  between  his  protectors 
and  the  bishop's  following,  and  nothing  came  of  it.  His 
enemies  then  got  the  pope  (Gregory  XI.)  to  issue  bulls 
condemning  certain  teachings  of  Wiclif  as  heretical.  The 
bulls  also  called  for  the  institution  of  processes  against 
the  reformer.  But  partly  because  of  the  sympathy  of  the 
University  of  Oxford,  and  partly  because  the  bishops 
themselves  were  somewhat  jealous  of  having  a  papal 
tribunal  to  deal  with  accused  persons  in  England,  this 
effort  to  crush  Wiclif  was  not  successful.  Once  more, 
in  1378,  he  appeared  before  the  prelates  in  London  to 
answer  charges,  and  again  through  the  sympathy  of 
powerful  protectors  (John  of  Gaunt  and  the  Princess  of 
Wales  among  them)  the  trial  came  to  little,  only  a  mild 
reproof  being  administered  to  the  preacher. 

In  this  same  year  (1378)  Wiclif  organized  his  com- 
panies of  "  poor  priests,"  or  "  simple  priests,"  as  they 
were  called,  to  go  about  England  preaching;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  set  on  foot  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
the  English  tongue.  The  far-reaching  importance  of 
these  two  measures  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  "  poor 
priests  "  were  not  an  ecclesiastical  order — Wiclif  had  a 
poor  enough  opinion  of  the  decayed  orders — but  were 


338  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

simply  evangelists  and  colporters  of  a  more  scriptural 
pattern,  who  went  about  among  the  people  preaching  in 
English  a  simple  gospel,  teaching,  and  perhaps  distribu- 
ting copies  of  the  Scriptures  done  into  the  native  lan- 
guage, together  with  some  of  Wiclif's  writings.  Men  of 
character  and  education  were  engaged  in  this  work,  and 
the  contrast  between  their  voluntary  and  devoted  labors 
and  the  pampered  and  worldly  officialism  of  the  endowed 
clergy,  whether  secular  or  regular,  was  impressive.  No 
wonder  the  common  people  heard  them  gladly ;  no  wonder 
the  pharisaic  priests  hated  the  work  and  its  founder. 
History  repeats  itself.  Good  work  was  done,  and  in  the 
hearts  of  the  English  folk  as  in  a  rich  soil,  seeds  were 
sown  that  in  after  years  were  to  bring  a  great  harvest — 
but  alas,  only  after  the  harrow  had  done  its  work. 

Reform  principles  made  progress  in  Wiclif's  own  mind. 
At  first  he  had  attacked  the  papal  claims  to  authority  in 
secular  matters,  and  in  other  ways.  Then  he  fell  upon 
the  evil  clergy  and  spared  not  their  sins  and  other  unfit- 
nesses  for  their  work.  At  last  he  comes  to  assail  some  of 
the  Roman  doctrines,  especially  that  of  transubstantiation. 
His  study  of  Scripture  and  his  acceptance  of  it  as  the 
supreme  authority  in  matters  of  faith  were  coming  to 
make  of  him  a  reformer  indeed.  In  1381  he  put  forth 
theses  against  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  embody- 
ing much  the  same  ideas  as  those  subsequently  held  by 
Luther.  A  treatise  called  "  Wiclif's  Little  Wicket,"  which 
was  a  tract,  but  much  in  sermon  form,  and  no  doubt  with 
many  ideas  and  expressions  used  in  his  discourses,  is 
given  in  Fish's  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Eloquence,1  and 
is  a  good  specimen  of  the  spirit  and  method  of  the  re- 
former. It  is  vigorous  in  style,  bold  in  expression,  and 
acute  in  reasoning,  and  makes  a  sharp  assault  on  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation. 

This  latest  phase  of  his  development — attacking  cer- 
tain doctrines  of  the  church — mightily  stirred  up  the  al- 
ready angered  clergy,  and  frightened  some  of  Wiclif's 
friends.  John  of  Gaunt  tried  to  get  him  to  stop.  The 
trouble  was  emphasized  by  the  rise  of  a  sedition  under 
John  Ball,  a  popular  leader  and  agitator  for  the  rights 
of  the  common  people,  who  claimed  to  have  got  his  ideas 

*VolI.,p.  ii8ff. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          339 

of  freedom  and  popular  rights  from  Wiclif.  So  a  council 
was  called  in  1382  to  take  measures  against  Wiclif  and 
his  followers.  Some  of  these  were  punished,  but  Wiclif 
himself  was  still  left  at  liberty,  though  articles  from  his 
writings  were  formally  condemned.  He  had  the  people 
on  his  side,  and  it  was  hard  to  bring  him  to  judgment. 
Yet  he  and  his  friends  thought  it  most  prudent  for  him  to 
retire  from  Oxford  to  the  more  quiet  retreat  of  Lutter- 
worth.  Here  he  pursued  his  parochial  duties  and  busied 
himself  with  his  writings  for  his  few  years  more  of  life. 
His  health,  never  strong,  was  now  declining,  and  he  died 
of  a  paralytic  stroke  on  the  last  day  of  December,  1384. 
Apart  from  his  vast  importance  as  a  reformer,  Wiclif 
would  claim  attention  alone  by  his  eminent  merits  as  a 
preacher.  Sermons  from  him  have  come  down  to  us 
partly  in  Latin  and  partly  in  English.1  The  sermons  are 
based  on  Scripture,  are  not  wholly  free  from  scholasti- 
cism, nor  from  the  current  allegorical  method  of  inter- 
pretation, nor  from  some  Roman  Catholic  errors;  but 
they  are  in  the  right  direction,  for  they  show  at  least  a 
better  interpretation  and  use  of  Scripture  than  was  com- 
mon, and  a  far  more  evangelical  doctrine.  They  are  vig- 
orous in  attack,  clever  in  appeal,  and  give  suggestions 
of  an  eloquence  which  the  spoken  discourses  must  have 
had.  For  they  are  but  sketches  of  sermons  and  were  no 
doubt  amplified  in  delivery.  Not  only  did  the  author 
himself  amplify  them,  but  the  curious  directions  at  the 
end  of  many  of  the  short  discourses  indicate  that  he  in- 
tended his  "  poore  preestis  "  to  make  free  use  of  the  ser- 
mons. Thus  at  the  end  of  the  first  sermon  on  the  Rich 
Man  and  Lazarus,  we  find  the  following :  "  In  this  Gos- 
pel may  preestis  telle  of  fals  pride  of  riche  men,  and 
of  lustful  lyf  of  mighty  men  of  this  worlde,  and  of  longe 
peynes  of  helle,  and  joyful  blis  of  hevene,  and  thus 
lengthe  ther  sermoun  as  the  tyme  axith."  In  sermon  five 
we  have  a  good  principle  of  Scripture  interpretation  thus 
set  forth :  "  It  is  noo  nede  to  depe  us  in  this  stori  more 
than  the  gospel  tellith,  as  it  is  no  nede  to  bisie  us  what 
hight  Tobies  hound.  Hold  we  us  apaied  on  the  mesure 

1  The  admirable  edition  by  Dr.  Thos.  Arnold  leaves  nothing  to 
be  desired :  Select  English  Works  of  John  Wyclif;  edited  fry  Thos. 
Arnold,  Oxford,  1869. 


34°  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

that  God  hath  govun  us,  and  dreeme  we  not  aboute  newe 
pointes  that  the  gospel  leveth,  for  this  is  a  synne  of  curi- 
ouste  that  harmeth  more  than  profiteth." 

A  longer  extract  from  the  third  sermon,  founded  on 
Luke  15,  will  give  us  an  idea  of  Wiclif's  method.  The 
spelling  is  given  in  our  modern  way,  though  thereby 
much  of  the  quaint  flavor  of  the  original  is  lost.  "  In  this 
gospel  telleth  Christ  two  parables  of  comfort,  how  his 
people  shall  be  saved  allif  [although]  priests  grudge 
thereagainst,  both  prelates  and  religious  [i.e.,  monks],  for 
their  pride  and  covetousness.  The  story  of  this  gospel 
telleth  how  publicans  and  sinful  men  were  coming  to 
Jesus  to  hear  his  lore  [teaching]  ;  and  he  treated  them 
graciously  as  a  good  Lord,  but  scribes  and  Pharisees 
grudged  against  this  and  blasphemed  against  Christ,  and 
said  he  ate  with  them  unlawfully.  And  this  deed  may 
figure  things  that  fall  now,  sith  [since]  prelates  as 
scribes  and  religious  [monks]  as  Pharisees  grudge 
against  true  priests,  members  of  Christ,  that  commune 
with  commons,  as  publicans,  and  secular  lords  as  sinful 
men,  and  say  it  falleth  not  to  them  to  know  God's  law. 
For  they  say  it  so  high,  so  subtle,  and  so  holy  that  all- 
only  scribes  and  Pharisees  should  speak  of  this  law.  And 
these  secular  prelates  may  well  be  cleped  [called]  scribes, 
for  they,  both  more  or  less,  write *  [i.e.,  keep  account  of] 
the  money  that  they  pile  [pillage]  of  the  people  more 
busily  than  they  print  in  their  souls  the  knowing  of  God's 
law.  And  these  religious  [monks]  be  Pharisees,  for  they 
be  divided  2  from  the  common  manner  of  living  by  their 
rotten  rites,  as  Pharisees  were.  Three  causes  there  be 
why  this  heavenly  leech  [physician]  received  freely  these 
sinful  men  and  ate  with  them :  first,  for  he  would  convert 
them,  to  the  confusion  of  proud  prelates  that  letted 
[hindered]  the  freedom  of  God's  laws  to  have  their 
course.  By  this  should  they  meekly  know  that  highness 
of  state  maketh  not  a  man  evermore  better  to  God.  The 
second  cause  is  that  Christ  would  give  his  priests  in  time 
of  grace  lore  [teaching]  and  example  to  do  wisely  so, 
and  to  stand  for  the  freedom  of  God's  law.  The  third 

1  Play  on  the  word  "  scribe  "  from  scribere,  to  write. 

2  Play  on  the  original  meaning  of  the  word  Pharisee,  a  separa- 
tist. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          341 

cause  is,  for  Christ  would  show  his  general  lordship  and 
saving  not  only  of  Jews  but  of  heathen  men  in  divers 
states.  These  prelates  would  fain  that  all  God's  law  were 
hanging  on  them  for  to  spoil  [rob]  the  people ;  for  then 
would  they  tell  this  law  and  put  them  to  false  understand- 
ing as  [that]  they  might  have  more  winning  [gain]  of 
the  people." 

These  were  bold  words,  and  they  are  a  fair  sample  of 
Wiclif's  fearless  assault  on  monks  and  seculars.  The  rest 
of  the  sermon  proceeds  on  the  view  that  Christ  is  the 
shepherd,  the  angels  are  the  ninety  and  nine,  mankind  is 
the  lost  sheep.  Christ  is  "  the  woman  " — the  wisdom  of 
God — the  ten  pieces  are  God's  "  reasonable  creatures,"  the 
tenth  and  lost  piece  is  man.  "  The  lantern  that  was 
lighted  is  the  manhood  [incarnation]  of  Christ,  the  turn- 
ing up  of  the  house  is  changing  of  states  that  be  made  in 
this  'world  by  the  manhood  of  Christ." 

We  know  that  Wiclif  had  many  sympathizers  and  fol- 
lowers not  only  among  the  common  people  but  also  among 
the  influential  and  the  cultivated.  Yet  among  them  is  no 
preacher  of  special  renown  whose  name  stands  out  pre- 
eminent like  that  of  the  leader  himself.  To  persons  of  the 
reform  tendency  the  name  of  Lollard  was  applied,  prob- 
ably as  a  term  of  reproach,  signifying  babblers,  or 
praters.  It  was  a  custom  of  these  Lollards  to  expound 
the  Word  of  God  and  teach  the  people  the  truth  of  Scrip- 
ture. That  they  opposed  the  papal  errors  and  sought 
for  a  better  establishment  and  a  greater  enlargement  of 
the  rights  of  the  people  is  certainly  true,  and  so  far  they 
must  have  our  sympathy  and  respect;  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  with  their  good  there  was  mingled 
the  ill  of  extremes,  fanaticism,  and  perhaps  sedition.  At 
any  rate  the  Lollards  found  themselves  under  the  ban 
of  both  church  and  state,  and  they  were  persecuted  most 
cruelly.  For  ten  years  after  Wiclif's  death  his  followers 
went  on  preaching  among  the  people,  and  sowing  the 
seeds  of  his  evangelical  doctrine.  But  the  attitude 
and  enactments  of  the  so-called  reforming  Council  of 
Constance  strengthened  the  enemies  of  Wiclif,  and  active 
measures  of  persecution  were  taken  against  the  Lollards. 
They  were  repressed,  but  their  opinions  were  not  extir- 
pated. Like  those  of  the  "  Friends  of  God  "  and  other 


342  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

parties  on  the  Continent  these  teachings  had  root  among 
the  people  and  waited  in  good  soil  for  sunshiny  weather. 

Something  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  Wiclif,  and 
on  the  eve  of  the  great  Protestant  revolution,  there  ap- 
peared at  Oxford  another  remarkable  man,  a  scholar  and 
preacher,  who  held  and  advocated  reformatory  views. 
This  was  John  Colet1  (1466-1519),  celebrated  as  lec- 
turer at  Oxford  and  as  dean  of  St.  Paul's  cathedral  in 
London. 

Colet  was  born  in  London  in  1466,  the  eldest  son  of 
Sir  Henry  Colet,  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence.  John 
received  his  early  education  at  London,  but  was  soon  sent 
to  Oxford,  where  he  remained  seven  years  and  took  his 
degree.  The  love  of  learning  was  deep  within  him,  and 
he  went  abroad  to  catch  the  new  spirit  of  learning  and 
to  study  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics.  He  visited  Paris 
and  Italy,  got  acquainted  with  Erasmus  and  other  Hu- 
manists, and  returned  to  England  in  1497  saturated  with 
the  Revival  of  Letters,  and  an  enthusiast  for  classical 
culture.  But  Colet  was  also  a  Christian  and  desired  the 
work  of  a  priest.  He  was  ordained  soon  after  his  return 
to  England,  settled  at  Oxford,  where  he  gave  without 
fee  a  course  of  expository  lectures  on  the  Epistles  of 
Paul,  using  the  Greek  text  and  expounding  from  that. 
Not  only  the  novelty  but  the  merit  and  power  of  these 
discourses  attracted  enthusiastic  and  cultured  audiences. 
Colet's  fame  as  a  preacher  spread,  he  held  various 
charges,  with  Oxford  as  a  center,  and  in  course  of  time 
was  made  dean  of  St.  Paul's  and  a  doctor  of  divinity. 
At  St.  Paul's  he  instituted  a  course  of  expository  sermons 
which  attracted  great  attention.  He  also  established  a 
divinity  lectureship  there  for  week  days,  and  was  the 
founder  of  the  famous  classical  school  connected  with 
St.  Paul's. 

Colet  held  decidedly  reformatory  views.  He  disap- 
proved of  confession  and  other  Romish  practices.  On 
this  account  he  was  not  acceptable  to  the  clergy,  was  ac- 
cused of  heresy  and  brought  to  trial  before  Bishop  War- 
ham,  but  was  acquitted.  He  pleaded  for  a  reform  within 

1  There  is  an  excellent  article  on  Colet  in  the  Diet,  of  National 
Biog.,  based  on  the  more  elaborate  work  of  Seebohm,  The  Oxford 
Reformers. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          343 

the  church  on  the  basis  of  the  New  Testament  and  of  the 
practices  of  the  early  Christian  centuries,  but  he  was  not 
as  thoroughgoing  as  Luther,  nor  did  he  have  the  dash 
and  vigor  of  Wiclif.  His  was  the  temperament  of  the 
scholar  rather  than  that  of  the  general.  But  his  influ- 
ence and  his  writings,  and  especially  his  work  in  open- 
ing the  Word  of  God,  give  him  a  sure  place  among  the 
early  reformers.  He  was  a  man  of  piety  and  wrote  books 
of  devotion,  as  well  as  some  commentaries  and  other 
theological  works.  His  sermons  were  given,  some  in 
Latin  and  some  in  English.  His  ease  and  effectiveness, 
clearness  and  warmth  in  speech,  are  attested  by  those 
who  heard  him,  but  his  remaining  sermons  —  as  is  so 
often  true  —  do  not  exhibit  the  real  oratorical  power  of 
the  man.  One  of  his  sermons,  delivered  before  Convo- 
cation in  February,  1512,  is  particularly  commended  as 
a  bold  and  powerful  plea  for  reform  within  the  church. 
Colet  died  just  as  the  Reformation  was  beginning,  in 


In  France,  as  we  have  seen,  the  reform  movement  took 
the  form  of  satire  and  invective  in  such  preachers  as 
Maillard  and  Menot.  The  position  of  Gerson  was  not 
satisfactory,  for  though  an  excellent  preacher  of  mystical 
opinions  and  himself  a  pious  man,  his  reformatory  views 
went  no  further  than  in  the  direction  of  healing  the  papal 
schism.  He  was  the  leading  man  at  the  Council  of 
Constance  which  condemned  Huss,  and  he  cannot  be 
fairly  reckoned  among  the  fore-reformers.  Leaving  out 
these  three,  who  have  before  been  noticed,  we  may  men- 
tion one  man  who  lived  a  little  before  their  time.  This 
was  Nicole  d'  Oresme  (Nicholas  Oresmus,  d.  1382),  who 
is  celebrated  for  at  least  one  bold  sermon  in  the  direction 
of  reform.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  probity, 
who  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  several  kings  and  held 
high  office  in  the  French  church.  He  was  sent  on  an 
embassy  to  the  papal  court  at  Avignon  in  1363  or  1364, 
and  took  occasion,  when  invited  to  preach,  to  deliver  a 
respectful  but  vigorous  message  in  regard  to  the  evils  in 
the  church.  He  compared  the  overthrow  of  Israel  to 
the  impending  overthrow  of  the  church  because  of  its 
corruptions.  The  sermon  does  not  spare  the  clergy  and 
was  a  brave  and  able  testimony.  But  it  does  not  seem 


344  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

to  have  produced  any  good  result,  and  Oresme  certainly 
did  not  start  or  lead  any  reform  in  France. 

In  Germany  we  find  two  distinct  groups  of  reform 
preachers  whose  work  very  decidedly  influenced  opinion 
in  their  country  and  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
great  Reformation. 

The  more  notable  of  these  were  the  Bohemian  re- 
formers, among  whom  were  several  preachers  of  power 
whose  names  are  worthy  of  grateful  remembrance.  First 
among  them  was  one  Conrad  of  Waldhausen  *  (d.  1369), 
who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. He  was  an  Austrian  by  birth  and  lived  in  several 
different  places  before  he  finally  settled  at  Prague.  Here 
he  had  great  influence  through  his  powerful  and  Scrip- 
tural reform  preaching.  He  blazed  the  path  for  his 
followers  by  asailing  fearlessly  the  moral  corruption  of 
the  clergy,  their  empty  and  formal  conduct  of  worship, 
and  their  wordy  and  fruitless  disputes. 

A  very  interesting  character  is  John  Milicz,  or 
Militsch  (d.  1374),  who  was  a  contemporary  and  follower 
of  Conrad.  He  was  of  Moravian  birth,  but  received  his 
education  at  Prague  and  settled  there.  He  studied  both 
law  and  theology  and  was  appointed  archdeacon  and 
preacher.  He  attacked  vigorously  the  want  of  discipline 
among  the  clergy,  and  also  lifted  up  his  voice  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Roman  practice  of  withholding  the  cup  from 
the  laity  at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  This, 
as  is  well  known,  became  one  of  the  leading  questions 
with  Huss  and  his  followers  in  Bohemia.  When  Milicz 
saw  that  his  views  were  unacceptable  to  his  superiors  he 
resigned  his  archdeaconry  and  accepted  a  ministerial  office 
about  the  church.  Not  officially,  but  in  a  simple  conver- 
sational way,  he  continued  to  teach  and  preach.  He  used 
the  native  Bohemian  tongue  and  talked  in  simple  heart- 
felt fashion  to  the  people,  and  his  influence  grew  fast. 
He  lived  on  the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  people,  preach- 
ing three  or  four  times  a  day — probably  on  the  streets  and 
squares.  He  learned  the  German  language  so  as  to  ad- 
dress himself  to  that  portion  of  the  population.  He  was 
skilled  in  the  Scripture  and  handled  it  with  effect  in  his 
discourses. 

'Rothe,  S.  252;  Cruel,  S.  615. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          345 

After  a  while  he  ceased  preaching  for  a  season  of  rest, 
and  meantime  determined  to  go  to  Rome  and  deliver  at 
headquarters  a  message  against  corruption.  He  put  up 
a  notice  on  St.  Peter's  church  that  he  would  preach.  His 
audacity  could  not  be  tolerated,  and  he  was  put  in  jail 
for  his  pains,  and  on  being  asked  what  he  intended  to 
preach  he  called  for  his  Bible,  which  had  been  taken 
away  from  him,  and  said  that  was  his  sermon.  He  soon 
got  his  release,  however,  and  returned  to  Prague,  where 
he  took  up  his  preaching  again  with  great  zeal  and  effect. 
He  taught  young  preachers,  rescued  fallen  women,  and 
had  great  influence  among  the  people.  On  the  death  of 
Conrad,  Milicz  was  appointed  preacher  in  his  place,  and 
thus  resumed  his  official  ministry.  But  he  did  not  cease 
to  attack  the  vices  of  the  clergy  and  the  corruptions  of 
the  church  in  his  daily  preaching.  He  was  accused  of 
heresy,  but  was  acquitted,  and  kept  on  preaching  till  his 
death,  in  1374.  Some  of  his  sermons  have  come  down 
in  Latin  sketches,  but  these  of  course  convey  no  adequate 
conception  of  his  power  as  a  preacher  in  the  common 
tongue. 

Another  of  these  early  Bohemian  reformers  was  Mat- 
thias of  Janow  (d.  1394),  who  was  born  at  Prague,  but 
educated  at  Paris,  where  he  took  his  degree.  On  return- 
ing to  his  native  city  and  being  ordained  he  began  to 
preach  against  the  current  evils,  and  to  urge  that  the 
cup  should  be  administered  to  laymen  as  well  as  priests. 
In  fact,  he  went  so  far  as  actually  to  dispense  the  wine 
to  the  communicants;  but  he  was  forced  by  authority  to 
desist  from  this.  He  was  rather  quiet  in  his  preaching 
and  did  more  by  personal  influence  and  by  his  writings. 
Still  he  was  a  preacher  of  no  small  ability.  One  of  his 
best  contributions  to  the  cause  of  reform  was  that  he  in- 
duced a  wealthy  layman  to  build  at  Prague  the  Bethle- 
hem Church,  where  the  gospel  should  be  preached  to  the 
people  in  their  own  tongue.  We  shall  see  that  this  church 
and  this  wise  provision  figured  largely  in  the  career  of 
the  great  reformer  whom  we  come  now  to  discuss. 

John  Huss1  (1373-1415)  was  born  of  humble  parent- 
age at  Hussinetz,  in  Bohemia,  in  the  year  1373,  shortly 
before  the  death  of  his  strongest  precursor,  Milicz.  He 
1A11  the  German  authorities,  especially  Ammon,  S.  51  ff. 


346  A   HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

received  only  an  imperfect  education  in  youth,  and  his 
scholarship  always  showed  the  defect  of  his  early  train- 
ing. As  a  young  man,  however,  he  attended  the  univer- 
sity at  Prague  and  took  his  degrees  of  bachelor  and 
master  in  the  regular  course.  He  was  a  vigorous  thinker 
and  early  won  and  ever  maintained  high  rank  as  a  theo- 
logian. He  also  developed  power  as  a  preacher  and  was 
soon  chosen  to  succeed  a  very  estimable  man  as  chief 
preacher  at  that  Bethlehem  Church  which  had  been  built 
for  the  very  purpose  of  having  the  word  preached  in  the 
Bohemian  tongue.  As  yet  he  did  not  espouse  the  cause 
of  reform,  but  preached  with  such  acceptance  that  he 
drew  large  crowds,  won  the  favor  of  all,  including  that 
of  the  queen,  and  thus  firmly  established  himself  in  the 
confidence  and  affections  of  the  people.  Meantime  he 
continued  his  connection  with  the  university  as  lecturer 
on  theology.  The  University  of  Prague  was  the  first  to 
be  established  in  the  German  countries,  and,  though  in 
Bohemia,  was  largely  attended  by  German  students  and 
chiefly  officered  and  governed  by  Germans.  Huss  was  a 
patriot  and  jealous  for  his  native  land.  He  secured  a 
better  representation  of  Bohemians  in  the  government  of 
the  university.  This  blow  to  their  supremacy  angered  the 
Germans,  and  multitudes  of  them  left — professors  and 
students — and  founded,  upon  invitation  of  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  the  first  genuinely  German  university  at  Leipzig 
in  1409. 

But  there  were  not  only  German  students  at  Prague. 
Other  nationalities  were  also  considerably  represented, 
and  among  the  crowd  of  foreign  students  were  some  Eng- 
lishmen, attracted  in  part,  as  others,  by  the  fame  and 
standing  of  the  university,  and  in  part  by  the  fact  that 
intercourse  between  the  two  countries  was  stimulated  at 
this  time  by  a  matrimonial  alliance  between  the  royal 
houses.1 

Some  of  these  English  students  had  come  under  Wic- 
lif's  influence  at  home,  and  by  their  means  the  views  and 
writings  of  the  great  English  reformer  became  known  at 
Prague.  Thus  some  of  Wiclif's  writings  came  into  the 
hands  of  Huss.  At  first  he  opposed  the  English  heretic 

1  Richard  II.  of  England  had  married  a  Bohemian  princess  in 
1382. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          347 

— even  with  bitterness — but  as  he  read  to  controvert  he 
was  convinced,  and  soon  became  a  pronounced  advocate 
of  Wiclif's  opinions. 

Huss  now  began  by  tongue  and  pen  to  attack  the 
papacy  and  the  corruptions  of  the  church.  His  course 
astonished  his  friends  and  aroused  enemies.  But  once 
embarked  upon  it  there  was  no  going  back,  and  he  be- 
came both  in  courage  and  ability  a  worthy  follower  of  his 
great  English  master  and  a  worthy  predecessor  of  Luther. 
His  place  at  least  is  assured  in  the  ranks  of  real  re- 
formers, for  he  made  the  Scriptures  the  basis  of  his 
opposition  to  the  papal  perversions  and  he  wavered  not, 
but  sealed  his  testimony  at  the  stake. 

The  attacks  of  Huss  aroused  the  church  authorities  and 
he  was  called  to  account  by  the  archbishop  of  Prague, 
who  ordered  many  of  his  and  Wiclif's  writings  to  be 
burned.  Huss  justly  characterized  this  as  folly,  boldly 
appealed  to  the  pope,  and  went  on  his  way.  But  the  at- 
tention of  the  pope  had  already  been  called  to  Huss,  and 
he  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  papal  court  at 
Rome  and  answer  charges  of  heresy.  This  showed  him 
that  his  appeal  was  useless  and  his  personal  safety  would 
not  be  secure,  so  he  declined  to  go.  Upon  this  refusal 
he  was,  in  1410,  declared  a  heretic  and  excommunicated. 
But  he  had  his  following  at  Prague  and  kept  on  his 
preaching,  as  both  Savonarola  and  Luther,  under  simi- 
lar circumstances,  did  after  him.  The  new  archbishop, 
however,  resorted  to  stronger  measures  than  his  prede- 
cessor, and  forbade  the  conduct  of  all  religious  services 
in  Prague  as  long  as  Huss  remained  there.  This  action 
decided  Huss  to  leave  Prague,  and  he  retired  to  his  child- 
hood home  at  Hussinetz,  but  still  continued  to  preach, 
there  and  at  other  places  as  opportunity  offered. 

In  1414  the  emperor  Sigismund  assembled  at  Con- 
stance the  famous  council  which  was  to  restore  peace  to 
the  distracted  church,  rent  by  schism,  disturbed  by  heresy, 
denied  by  corruption.  On  the  first  two  points  action  was 
taken,  the  last  slightly  touched  and  fatally  postponed.  In 
dealing  with  heresy  the  council  soon  proceeded  to  sum- 
mon the  arch-heretic  Huss  to  appear  before  it  and  answer 
charges  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the  church.  Armed 
with  a  letter  of  protection  from  the  emperor  he  came. 


348  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

The  sad  and  disgraceful  story  is  soon  told.  Huss  ap- 
peared before  the  council,  explained  his  views,  refused  to 
retract  what  he  held  to  be  the  truth,  and  was  condemned 
to  prison  and  to  execution.  In  open  council  he  exhibited 
his  letter  of  protection  and  called  on  the  emperor  to 
acknowledge  his  signature  and  seal.  Sigismund  turned 
pale  and  then  blushed  with  shame,  but  the  imperial  word 
was  broken  on  the  casuistical  plea  that  it  was  right  to 
break  faith  with  a  heretic.1  After  further  imprisonment 
Huss  was  led  to  the  stake  and  bravely  died  in  the  flames 
in  the  year  1415,  just  about  a  century  before  Luther 
nailed  his  famous  theses  on  the  palace  church  at  Witten- 
berg and  began  the  Reformation. 

But  though  dead  Huss  lived  on  in  his  influence  and 
writings.  It  belongs  to  general  church  history  to  trace 
the  further  progress  of  the  Bohemian  reformation,  its 
unhappy  divisions,  its  wars  and  persecutions  and  defeat. 
Numerous  works  of  Huss  remained,  among  them  some 
sketches  of  sermons  chiefly  in  Latin.  But  these  cannot 
properly  convey  a  satisfactory  impression  of  his  manner 
or  power  as  a  preacher  before  the  people.  They  are  poor 
in  all  rhetorical  respects,  bad  Latin,  dry,  too  sharply 
polemic.  The  probability  is  that  Huss  did  not  have  espe- 
cially oratorical  gifts,  but  in  his  preaching  he  carried 
more  weight  by  the  nature  of  his  utterances  and  by  the 
strength  and  sincerity  of  his  convictions  than  by  those 
more  pleasing  and  impressive  talents  which  we  call  elo- 
quence. But  the  people  loved  to  hear  him,  and  the  his- 
tory of  religion  in  Bohemia  after  him  is  a  tribute  to 
his  power  with  men  more  striking  than  the  imperfect 
specimens  of  his  sermons  that  have  come  down  to  us. 

Mention  at  least  should  be  made  of  the  noble  friend  of 
Huss,  Jerome  of  Prague  (d.  1416).  He  was  a  knight 
at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Bohemia,  a  well  educated, 
much  travelled,  and  highly  eloquent  man.  Though  not 
a  priest  he  sometimes  informally  preached,  teaching  the 
views  of  Wiclif  and  Huss.  Though  dissuaded,  he  ac- 
companied Huss  to  Constance;  but  his  courage  was  at 

1  More  than  a  hundred  years  later,  when  Luther  was  arraigned 
before  the  diet  at  Worms,  and  Charles  V.  was  urged  on  similar 
grounds  to  recall  his  safe-conduct,  that  emperor  is  said  to  have 
emphatically  refused,  saying,  "  Non  erubescam  cum  Sigismundo 
antecessore  meo." 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          349 

first  not  quite  equal  to  the  strain  put  upon  it.  He  tried 
to  get  away,  but  was  captured  and  imprisoned;  under 
stress  he  renounced  the  views  of  the  condemned  reform- 
ers, but  ashamed  of  his  weakness  he  asked  for  another 
hearing.  In  an  eloquent  address,  which  has  been  pre- 
served in  a  report  made  by  some  one  who  heard  it,  he 
renounced  his  weak  renunciation,  boldly  and  ably  de- 
fended his  real  sentiments,  and  met  his  fate  like  a  man. 
In  1416  he  was  burned  on  the  same  spot  where  Huss 
had  died  the  year  before. 

Besides  Bohemians  there  were  among  the  Germans 
themselves  some  notable  preachers  of  the  reformatory 
order,  who  helped  to  prepare  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
many  of  the  German  people  for  the  great  work  of  Luther 
and  his  colaborers.  Among  these  were  Jacob  of  Jiiter- 
bogk,  John  of  Goch,  Krafft,  and  others,1  who  not  only 
opposed  the  general  corruptions  of  the  time,  but  —  it  is 
interesting  to  observe  —  especially  assailed  the  abuse  of 
indulgences  as  these  had  been  proclaimed  by  Capistrano 
and  other  papal  missionaries  in  Germany. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  of  these  early  German 
opponents  of  indulgences  and  the  other  errors  was  John 
Richsrath  (d.  1481),  commonly  called  John  of  Wesel, 
from  his  birthplace.  He  must  not  be  confused  with  John 
Wessel,  the  famous  teacher,  mystic,  and  reformer  of  this 
time.  Of  Wesel's  parents  and  early  education  little  or 
nothing  seems  to  be  known,  but  it  is  clear  that  he  was 
an  educated  man.  He  came  to  the  University  of  Erfurt 
probably  about  1440.  Later  he  was  made  lecturer  at 
Erfurt,  and  then  doctor.  He  distinguished  himself  both 
as  professor  and  preacher,  and  about  1450  he  published  a 
treatise  against  the  reigning  theory  of  indulgences.  After 
this  the  pope  sent  Cardinal  Cuso  to  Erfurt  to  preach  and 
sell  indulgences,  and  still  later  came  the  redoubtable 
Capistrano  2  on  a  similar  mission.  Wesel  did  not  hesitate 
to  oppose  them  in  much  the  same  way  that  Luther  after- 
wards attacked  Tetzel. 

After  some  twenty  years'  service  at  Erfurt  Wesel 
was  for  a  short  time  at  Mainz,  going  later  to  Worms, 
where  for  seventeen  years  he  lived  and  preached.  As  a 


gives,  in  his  well-known  work,  a  full  account  of  all 
these.  *  Above,  p.  317. 


35°  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

preacher  he  took  decided  ground  against  all  the  more 
glaring  corruptions  of  the  times,  and  based  his  opposition 
on  the  Scriptures  and  the  Augustinian  theology.  He  is 
thus  in  many  respects  clearly  a  predecessor  of  Luther. 
In  his  preaching  he  was  more  brilliant  and  fierce  than 
prudent,  and  as  a  consequence  made  enemies  and  pro- 
voked persecution.  He  was  accused  of  heresy,  and  pro- 
ceedings were  instituted  against  him  in  1479.  The  trial 
went  against  him  and  he  was  put  in  prison,  where,  in 
consequence  of  hardships  too  severe  for  his  age,  he  died 
in  1481.  There  can  be  no  question  that  traces  of  his  work 
and  influence  at  Erfurt  and  Worms  were  helpful  in  the 
struggle  that  was  now  soon  to  begin  in  Germany. 

In  Italy  the  voice  of  reform  was  not  wholly  still  in  the 
early  and  middle  part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Here  and 
there  preachers  of  a  more  serious  turn  than  the  generality 
of  priests  lifted  up  their  voices  against  the  manifest  and 
fearful  demoralization  of  the  times,  and  men  like  Ber- 
nardino of  Siena  and  Gabriel  Barletta  spared  not  in 
their  denunciations  of  evil  present  and  ruin  to  come.  But 
all  smaller  figures  are  dwarfed  by  the  eminent  greatness 
of  one  who,  toward  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  did 
a  work  and  made  for  himself  a  name  as  preacher  that 
shall  endure  through  time. 

Girolamo  (Jerome)  Savonarola  *  was  born  at  Ferrara 
in  north  Italy,  September  21,  1452.  His  family  were  re- 
spectable and  cultivated  people.  The  boy  was  of  a 
thoughtful,  melancholy  temperament,  and  while  yet  a 
youth  began  to  think  and  brood  upon  the  evils  of  the  age. 
A  bright  vision  of  love  crossed  his  path,  but  the  maiden 
he  sought  rejected  his  addresses,  and  this  disappoint- 
ment increased  his  melancholy.  Like  John  Chrysostom, 
he  was  repelled  instead  of  attracted  by  the  dissolute  life  of 
the  world  in  which  he  lived,  and  kept  himself  through  life 
austerely  pure. 

1The  standard  work  on  Savonarola  is  Prof.  P.  Villari's  admira- 
ble Life  and  Times  of  Savonarola,  well  translated  into  English 
by  the  author's  wife.  It  contains  numerous  selections  from  Sa- 
vonarola's sermons.  An  edition  of  these  by  Baccini  has  been 
found  useful.  There  are  interesting  studies  of  Savonarola  in  Mrs. 
Oliphant's  Makers  of  Florence,  Mr.  W.  D.  Howells'  Tuscan  Cities, 
and  in  George  Eliot's  Romola,  which  also  gives  a  very  vivid  sketch 
of  the  times. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          351 

In  his  twenty-second  year  he  heard  a  sermon  on  the 
evils  of  the  times  and  the  need  of  escaping  them.  This 
chimed  in  with  his  own  mood,  and  he  determined  to  em- 
brace the  monastic  life.  But  his  entrance  into  the  cloister 
was  not  managed  in  a  way  wholly  to  his  credit.  One 
day  while  the  rest  of  the  family  had  gone  off  to  a  festival 
Girolamo  left  his  home,  and,  going  to  Bologna,  entered 
the  Dominican  monastery  there.  He  wrote  back  to  his 
father  an  affectionate  letter  and  explained  that  he  had 
taken  that  course  to  avoid  the  discussion  of  the  matter 
in  the  family,  as  he  feared  their  pleadings  might  hinder 
the  accomplishment  of  his  resolution. 

As  a  novice  and  student  in  the  Order  of  Preachers 
Savonarola  showed  great  earnestness  and  diligence  both 
in  study  and  in  pious  exercises.  For  seven  years  the 
young  monk  pursued  his  studies  and  his  self-discipline 
at  Bologna,  and  then  the  authorities  sent  him  forth  to 
begin  his  career  as  a  preacher. 

He  began  at  his  native  Ferrara,  but  not  with  much 
success.  He  was  then  sent — in  the  same  year,  1481 — to 
Florence  to  teach  in  the  famous  convent  of  San  Marco 
and  to  fill  an  appointment  as  preacher  in  the  old  church 
of  San  Lorenzo.1  The  church  was,  and  even  yet  remains, 
an  important  one  in  Florence,  and  the  appointment  meant 
recognition  of  Savonarola's  powers.  But  the  series  of 
sermons  was  a  failure.  The  Florentines  did  not  take 
kindly  at  first  to  the  young  monk's  matter  or  style,  and 
the  audience  dwindled  to  twenty-five  perfunctory  hear- 
ers. A  few  years  were  to  work  a  mighty  change. 

After  this  Savonarola  was  sent  to  other  places  to 
preach.  During  one  of  his  tours  in  north  Italy,  preaching 
much  at  Brescia,  he  grew  in  power  before  the  people. 
Already  he  had  found  the  keynote  of  his  future  deliver- 
ances, the  three  famous  prophecies  that  henceforth  con- 
stituted the  burden  of  his  message:  (i)  The  church 

*It  is,  said  to  be  the  most  ancient  church  in  Florence,  having 
been  built  in  390,  and  consecrated  by  Ambrose  of  Milan  in  393. 
In  Savonarola's  time  it  had  been  already  twice  rebuilt,  but  on  the 
same  site  and  no  doubt  with  some  parts  of  the  walls  and  perhaps 
other  material  remaining.  Two  old  pulpits — apparently  not  now 
in  use — decorated  with  fine  bronze  reliefs  by  Donatello  still  stand 
in  the  church,  but  whether  they  were  used  by  Savonarola  or  not 
I  do  not  know. 


352  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

will  be  scourged;  (2)  it  will  be  renewed;  (3)  all  will 
come  quickly.  His  preaching  made  a  great  sensation,  and 
the  country  began  to  ring  with  his  name  and  his  prophe- 
cies. Meantime  a  chapter  of  the  Dominican  order  had 
been  held  at  Reggio,  and  at  this  meeting  Savonarola  had 
delivered  a  powerful  discourse  on  his  favorite  theme. 
Among  the  hearers  of  this  speech  was  that  youthful 
prodigy  of  learning  and  piety,  John  Pico,  Count  of  Miran- 
dola.  His  admiration  for  Savonarola  became  warm 
friendship.  On  his  return  to  Florence  he  had  much  to 
tell  Lorenzo  concerning  the  eloquence  of  Savonarola; 
and  the  worldly  tyrant,  who,  with  all  his  vices,  wished  the 
city  to  have  the  best  of  everything,  requested  the  Domini- 
can authorities  to  send  Fra  Girolamo  to  Florence. 

Accordingly,  in  1487,  Savonarola  comes  back  to  the 
scene  of  his  early  failure;  but  he  comes  now  with  a 
consciousness  of  power  derived  from  an  assured  convic- 
tion of  his  mission  and  from  success  in  other  fields,  and 
moreover  with  such  prestige  as  the  admiration  of  Pico 
and  the  patronage  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  could  give. 
As  prior  of  the  convent  of  San  Marco,  and  preacher  in 
the  church  attached  to  the  cloister,  the  austere  Dominican 
finds  his  work.  His  attitude  toward  Lorenzo  was  un- 
compromising from  the  first.  He  refused  to  flatter  the 
brilliant  and  dissolute  master  of  Florence,  or  in  anywise 
to  court  or  value  his  patronage.  He  did  not  mince  his 
words  when  speaking  of  the  evils  in  the  city,  and  he  was 
from  first  to  last  the  friend  of  popular  government  and 
the  foe  of  the  Medicean  tyranny.  Savonarola's  audi- 
ences soon  overflowed  the  little  church  of  San  Marco, 
and  in  the  Lent  season  of  1491  the  preacher  gave  his 
sermons  in  the  magnificent  church  of  Santa  Maria  del 
Fiore  (St.  Mary  of  the  Flower),  otherwise  known  as 
the  Duomo,  or  Cathedral,  of  Florence.  In  this  spacious 
building  thronging  multitudes  pressed  together  and  stood 
to  hear  the  powerful  eloquence  of  this  Dominican  friar. 
One  wonders  how  he  could  have  made  himself  heard,  but 
the  testimony  of  witnesses  is  decisive  of  the  fact. 

On  the  death  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  inspired  to 
patriotism  by  Savonarola's  preaching,  Florence  expelled 
his  son  Piero  and  reestablished  the  republic.  The  new 
constitution,  modelled  after  that  of  Venice,  was  largely 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          353 

formed  and  adopted  by  Savonarola's  advice  and  influence. 
But  he  was  far  from  being  a  scheming  politician.  He 
bravely  and  conscientiously  sought  by  his  preaching  and 
his  personal  influence  to  reform  the  morals  as  well  as 
the  government  of  Florence.  Personally  pure,  but  in- 
clined to  austerity  and  melancholy,  he  was  too  extreme 
and  impracticable  in  some  of  his  proposed  measures.  But 
for  a  while  it  looked  as  if  Florence  would  purge  herself 
from  worldly  folly  and  be  what  the  patriot  preacher 
wished — a  city  where  Christ  reigned. 

As  always  in  republican  governments,  factions  were 
formed  in  the  city  and  party  spirit  ran  high.  There  was, 
first,  the  party  that  favored  Savonarola's  ideas  of  gov- 
ernment and  reform;  next,  the  opposite  party,  who  vio- 
lently strove  against  reform ;  and  lastly,  a  less  pronounced 
party  of  opposition  to  the  rigorism  of  Savonarola,  who 
might  easily  be  made  to  work  with  the  extremists  upon 
occasion.  Along  with  these  was  a  small  party  of  older 
citizens,  friends  of  the  Medici,  who  desired  the  return 
of  that  family,  and  bided  their  time,  working  with  any 
of  the  others  as  suited  their  views.  This  political  maga- 
zine only  needed  a  spark  to  explode  it.  The  spark  fell. 
Piero  di  Medici  made  an  attempt  to  get  back  into  Flor- 
ence. It  failed,  but  some  prominent  citizens  suspected 
of  favoring  his  designs  were  burned  to  death  by  the  re- 
form party  then  in  power,  and  this  awakened  the  fierce 
enmities  of  the  opposition.  This  was  one  step  toward 
Savonarola's  fall. 

We  must  also  take  account  of  the  enemies  he  had  in 
the  church.  Since  the  main  element  of  Savonarola's 
preaching  was  that  which  dealt  with  the  existing  decay 
in  church  and  world,  it  was  inevitable  that  his  attack  on 
evil  should  expose  him  to  the  hatred  of  the  corrupt 
clergy.  And  two  particular  circumstances  emphasized 
this  general  state  of  affairs.  These  were  the  rivalry  of 
the  Franciscan  order,  who  were  jealous  of  the  pre- 
eminence of  a  Dominican ;  and  the  character  of  the  man 
who  from  1492  to  1503  occupied  and  disgraced  the  papal 
chair.  This  man  was  the  infamous  Roderigo  Borgia, 
who  reigned  as  Pope  Alexander  VI.  It  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  a  pope  whose  own  life  was  an  epitome  of 
the  worst  vices  of  the  age  should  look  with  satisfaction 


354  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

upon  any  effort  to  reform  the  clergy,  or  hear  with  pa- 
tience the  unflinching  exposure  and  predicted  scourging 
of  the  evils  which  afflicted  the  church.  Some  of  Savon- 
arola's utterances  were  reported  to  the  pope,  perhaps 
exaggerated  and  perverted — though  they  did  not  re- 
quire such  editing  in  order  to  excite  the  wrath  of  his 
unholiness — and  he  determined  to  silence  the  bold 
preacher.  Various  means  were  resorted  to  without 
avail.  Once  the  pope  invited  Savonarola  to  Rome  to 
confer  on  these  matters,  but  Fra  Girolamo  was  quite  too 
wise  to  accept  the  invitation.  Another  time,  it  is  said, 
Alexander  offered  the  monk  a  cardinal's  hat  if  he  would 
change  his  course,  and  Savonarola  replied  that  the  only 
red  hat  he  expected  to  wear  was  that  of  martyrdom. 
This  may  or  may  not  be  strictly  true,  but  it  is  at  least 
characteristic.  Then  the  pope  resorted  to  sterner  meas- 
ures. He  commanded  silence ;  but  the  Florentine  govern- 
ment, being  then  in  the  hands  of  Savonarola's  party,  sus- 
tained the  preacher.  The  pope  then  threatened  the 
Florentine  merchants  in  Rome  with  confiscation  of  goods. 
The  Seignory  felt  the  force  of  this  argument  and  coun- 
selled the  friar  to  cease  preaching  for  a  while.  He 
obeyed;  but  could  not — for  many  reasons — long  remain 
silent,  and  in  1496  ascended  the  pulpit  of  St.  Mark's 
once  more,  and  in  a  series  of  bold  sermons  went  on  his 
way.  This  introduced  the  final  scene.  The  pope  ex- 
communicated Savonarola  and  commanded  all  the  clergy 
and  good  Catholics  to  sustain  the  penalty.  At  first  the 
government  braved  the  pope  and  still  permitted  Savona- 
rola to  preach,  but  it  was  an  unequal  fight,  and  as  the 
friar's  enemies  in  the  city  constantly  gained  ground  the 
end  was  coming  into  view.  This  clerical  and  papal  hos- 
tility was  the  second  step  toward  the  catastrophe. 

The  third  and  fatal  cause  which  cooperated  all  along 
and  finally  precipitated  Savonarola's  downfall  was  the 
indiscretion  of  himself  and  his  friends.  Savonarola  was 
not  a  man  of  the  same  make  with  Wiclif,  Huss  or 
Luther.  In  both  strength  of  character  and  soundness 
of  judgment  he  stands  below  all  of  these.  And  he  made 
the  fatal  error,  which  these  did  not  make,  of  basing 
his  reformatory  efforts  on  the  general  appeal  to  con- 
science and  on  his  own  commission  as  a  prophet,  rather 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         355 

than  upon  the  Word  of  God.  That,  at  moments  of  high 
ecstasy,  and  especially  when  borne  along  by  the  torrent 
of  his  own  oratorical  feeling,  Savonarola  believed  he  was 
preeminently  inspired  of  God  is  no  doubt  true.  That,  in 
moments  of  depression,  he  doubted  this,  is  perhaps  equally 
true.  As  to  the  people,  there  were  partisans  of  his  who 
believed  in  his  inspiration  more  fully  perhaps  than  he 
did  himself,  and  there  were  enemies  who  believed  him 
a  cheat.  Between  them,  and  of  all  grades,  was  the 
changeable  crowd  who  could  be  led  either  way,  according 
to  circumstances.  And  thus  came  the  end. 

Among  Savonarola's  partisans  was  a  certain  Fra  Do- 
menico,  who  during  the  time  that  Savonarola  was  not 
preaching  delivered  a  series  of  sermons,  in  which  he  went 
to  great  lengths  in  attacking  the  clergy  and  in  asserting 
his  prior's  prophetic  claims.  He  declared  again  and 
again  that  he  was  prepared  to  test  the  truth  of  those 
claims  by  the  ordeal  of  fire.  That  is,  he  was  willing  to 
walk  through  fire  along  with  one  who  opposed  the  claims 
in  the  belief  that  by  a  miracle  he  would  come  safely 
through  while  the  opponent  would  perish.  This  bravado 
was  finally  taken  up  by  the  Franciscans,  and  one  of  their 
lay  brethren  was  found  who  said  he  would  accept  the 
challenge  and  walk  through  the  fire  with  Fra  Domenico. 
He  expected  to  be  burned,  but  declared  he  was  willing 
to  suffer  if  he  could  thereby  expose  the  false  pretensions 
of  Savonarola  and  his  party.  Alas!  for  the  weaknesses 
of  the  great  and  good;  it  is  the  one  serious  blot  on 
Savonarola  that  he  consented  to  this  wretched  business. 
His  compliance  can  doubtless  be  psychologically  ex- 
plained, but  it  cannot  be  ethically  excused.  It  is  to  the 
shame  of  the  city  authorities  that  they  permitted  the  trial 
to  be  attempted,  and  ordered  the  necessary  preparations 
to  be  made  in  the  famous  square  of  the  Seignory.  Here  the 
fuel  was  laid  and  the  fires  even  lighted  on  the  appointed 
day,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  mixed  and  expectant 
crowd.  When  the  champions  and  their  partisans,  in- 
cluding Savonarola  himself,  appeared,  there  was  discus- 
sion first  as  to  whether  the  men  should  go  through  with 
their  clothes  on;  and,  secondly,  whether  Fra  Domenico 
should  be  allowed  to  carry  a  crucifix  in  his  hand.  These 
arguments  occupied  nearly  the  whole  day,  and  in  the 


3S6  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

evening  a  shower  of  rain  came  and  put  out  the  fire.  At 
last  the  Seignory  asserted  the  authority  they  ought  to 
have  used  at  first  and  forbade  the  trial,  ordering  Savona- 
rola and  his  monks  home.  Thus  the  whole  thing  ended 
in  a  fiasco.  The  people,  disappointed,  weary,  deceived, 
turned  like  hounds  upon  Savonarola  and  his  friends.  The 
mob  raged  through  the  city,  and  only  under  protection 
could  Savonarola  reach  San  Marco  in  safety  as  he  re- 
tired from  the  square. 

In  the  following  weeks  the  tragedy  ended.  The  gov- 
ernment was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  faction  opposed  to 
Savonarola,  the  pope  and  clergy  were  bent  on  his  de- 
struction, and  the  fatal  mistake  of  the  ordeal,  and  its 
failure,  had  discredited  his  highest  claims.  In  vain  did 
the  preacher  try  to  explain  and  justify  the  recent  events. 
His  last  sermon  was  preached  in  San  Marco  in  March, 
1498,  and  in  it  he  pathetically  expressed  his  willingness 
to  die  for  his  faults.  A  mob  assailed  the  convent  of  San 
Marco,  which  was  vigorously  defended  by  the  monks, 
and  the  preacher  was  held  responsible  for  the  riot. 
Savonarola,  Fra  Domenico  and  another  of  his  more  zeal- 
ous partisans  were  arrested  and  tried  before  a  tribunal 
partly  civil  and  partly  ecclesiastical.  The  charges  against 
them  were  really  not  worthy  of  serious  consideration — 
charges  of  sedition  in  the  city,  deceiving  the  people,  and 
heresy.  But  their  destruction  was  a  foregone  conclusion, 
and  what  with  torture  and  perversion,  and  even  falsifi- 
cation of  testimony,  the  case  was  made  out,  and  the 
three  men  sentenced  to  be  hanged  and  burned  on  the 
very  spot  in  the  Piazza  della  Seignoria  where  the  fires 
had  been  lit  for  the  ordeal.  Here,  on  the  23d  of  May, 
1498,  the  abominable  sentence  was  executed.  The  old 
palace  of  the  Seignory  still  looks  down  grimly  on  the 
scene,  and  the  spot  is  now  marked  by  a  bronze  plate, 
which  represents  the  well-known  features  of  the  reformer 
in  his  monk's  cowl,  with  a  palm  leaf,  and  an  inscription 
which  tells  that  after  four  hundred  years  Florence  placed 
this  memorial  tablet  in  honor  of  the  prophet  and  preacher 
who  had  there  suffered  for  his  work's  sake. 

As  a  man  Savonarola  was  pure  and  pious  from  child- 
hood and  through  life.  Not  even  his  bitterest  enemies 
could  attack  him  here.  His  disposition  inclined  to  mel- 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          357 

ancholy  and  austerity — a  part  of  the  hair  shirt  he  wore 
next  his  flesh  is  still  shown  in  his  cell  at  San  Marco. 
But  he  was  kind  and  affectionate  in  nature,  made  and 
kept  warm  friends,  and  by  his  personal  influence  as  well 
as  his  preaching  did  much  to  help  and  mould  the  charac- 
ters of  others.  His  unselfish  devotion  to  his  work  is  be- 
yond all  cavil,  and  his  patriotism  and  love  of  liberty, 
without  a  trace  of  ambition  for  personal  distinction  or 
other  gain  for  himself,  are  clearly  written  in  the  story  of 
his  life.  His  courage  was  great,  even  to  death,  and  yet 
under  torture  he  flinched  and  wavered.  This,  however, 
was  due  more  to  the  extreme  sensitiveness  of  his  con- 
stitution than  to  lack  of  moral  courage.  As  some  one 
said,  "  He  had  the  heart,  but  not  the  fibre,  of  a  martyr." 
The  difficult  point  in  his  character  is  that  in  regard  to  his 
prophetic  claims.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  he  was 
a  deliberate  cheat.  It  is  equally  impossible  to  deny  that 
he  went  beyond  the  bounds  of  sober  reason  in  claiming 
the  gift  of  prophecy  and  the  immediate  inspiration  of 
God,  and  his  consent  to  have  his  claims  tested  by  the 
ordeal  of  fire  and  in  the  person  of  another  is  not  to  be 
defended.  The  difficulty  is  most  probably  and  charitably 
to  be  met  by  the  view  that  Savonarola  was  sincere  in  his 
belief  of  his  prophetic  mission,  and  yet  could  not  feel 
always  sure  of  it.  There  was  a  border  land  of  fanati- 
cism which  he  did  not  wholly  escape. 

As  a  preacher  Savonarola  stands  among  the  most  emi- 
nent in  history.  His  natural  gift  of  oratory  was  unques- 
tionable. He  had  that  nameless  something  which  throws 
the  spell  over  hearers  and  captures  them  while  it  lasts. 
Crowds  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  multitudes  were  both 
transiently  and  permanently  moved  and  moulded  by  his 
preaching.  His  figure  was  slight  but  erect  and  firm,  his 
complexion  dark  but  refined,  his  nose  aquiline,  his  lips 
full  and  mobile,  his  eye  keen  and  flashing,  his  hands  thin 
and  delicate,  his  gestures  graceful  and  appropriate;  and 
his  voice,  at  first  somewhat  harsh,  soon  was  mellowed  by 
use,  and  became  rich,  sonorous,  full  and  distinct.  In 
mind  he  was  well  endowed  with  both  the  reasoning  and 
the  imaginative  faculty.  Scholastic  subtlety  and  acute- 
ness  are  found  in  his  sermons,  as  well  as  cleverness  of 
speculation  and  sweep  of  fancy.  His  training  was  thor- 


A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

ough  in  the  Dominican  curriculum,  and  he  was  ever  a 
student  and  thinker.  His  theology  was  in  accord  with 
the  Catholic  orthodoxy  of  his  age,  having  been  chiefly 
formed  by  Aquinas.  But  his  knowledge  of  Scripture 
and  his  reforming  soul  encouraged  the  entrance  of  many 
evangelical  opinions  into  his  sermons.  Yet  he  was  in 
this  regard  by  no  means  the  peer  of  the  other  great  re- 
formers. The  Catholic  elements  of  thought  predominate 
in  his  preaching.  Besides  the  scholastic  traces,  and  in 
spite  of  the  struggle  of  his  better  knowledge  of  Scrip- 
ture, the  allegorical  method  of  interpretation  too  much 
prevails  and  mars  the  force  of  his  sermons.  These  would 
not  measure  up  to  the  standard  set  by  the  later  reformers, 
but  they  show  the  resources  and  power  of  the  man,  and 
as  far  as  reported  and  printed  sermons  can  they  sustain 
the  traditional  reputation  of  the  preacher.  Their  lan- 
guage is  clear,  simple  and  pleasing,  their  thought  and 
feeling  elevated  and  strong. 

With  Savonarola  ends  the  line  of  fore-reformers.  When 
he  was  executed  at  Florence  Luther  was  a  fourteen-year- 
old  lad  in  school  at  Eisenach,  and  helping  to  earn  his 
scanty  living  by  singing  in  the  streets,  and  filling  one  stage 
of  his  preparation  for  his  mighty  work.  Among  Luther's 
predecessors  the  preeminent  names  are  those  of  Wiclif, 
Huss  and  Savonarola,  and  the  greatest  of  these  in  leader- 
ship was  the  first,  the  greatest  in  preaching  the  last.  All 
were  persecuted,  two  suffered  martyrdom ;  but  their  work 
was  not  in  vain,  and  their  lives  have  counted  for  much 
among  the  forces  for  good  in  the  world.  On  an  old  ban- 
ner, painted  by  Fra  Angelico,  carried  by  Savonarola  to 
call  the  people  to  worship,  and  preserved  yet  in  his  cell 
at  San  Marco,  we  read :  Nos  pr&dicamus  Christum  cruci- 
fixum. 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  REFORMATION,  AND  PREACHING  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH 
CENTURY 

With  the  beginning  of  the  great  Protestant  revolt  from 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  sixteenth  century  a 
new  era  dawns  upon  the  world.  The  gathering  forces 
of  new  learning,  of  discovery  and  scientific  progress, 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          359 

and  of  reformatory  movement  within  the  church,  which 
had  marked  the  fifteenth  century,  all  contributed  their 
various  kinds  of  power  toward  that  momentous  revolu- 
tion. 

In  preaching  the  new  note  which  had  sounded  out 
in  the  fore-reformers,  but  had  seemed  to  be  stifled  by 
persecution  and  martyrdom,  found  a  clearer  resonance 
in  the  work  of  the  great  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  voice  of  Savonarola  had  not  long  been  hushed 
at  Florence  before  the  little  university  town  of  Witten- 
berg, in  Saxony,  was  ringing  with  the  bold  challenge  of 
a  young  monk  and  professor  who  was  soon  to  shake  the 
world  with  a  power  mightier  than  that  of  the  eloquent 
Italian.  And  the  notes  were  reverberated  throughout  all 
Western  Europe,  even  on  toward  the  end  of  the  century, 
when,  in  1572,  the  last  of  these  strenuous  reformers 
passed  away  in  the  sturdy  Scotchman,  John  Knox.  The 
voice  of  religious  reform  mingled  with  all  other  sounds 
of  movement  in  this  great  century,  and  it  is  not  easy 
to  keep  distinct  the  separate  tones.  Or,  to  drop  the  fig- 
ure, all  other  affairs  were  inextricably  mixed  with  those 
of  religion,  and  the  history  of  the  Reformation  is  during 
its  progress  almost  the  history  of  Europe.  This  makes  it 
desirable  that  we  should  give  a  little  attention  to  general 
affairs  in  Western  Christendom  in  this  time. 

i.    EUROPE  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 

At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  Spain,  united,  rich, 
and  arrogant,  assumes  a  great  role  in  European  history. 
And  this  leading  place  is  greatly  enhanced  during  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  by  the  accession  of  the 
young  king  (1519)  to  the  empire  as  Charles  V.  After 
him  his  narrow  and  bigoted  son,  Philip  II.,  in  his  wars 
with  the  Netherlands  and  England,  contrives  to  lower 
Spanish  prestige  in  European  affairs. 

In  Italy  the  old  confusion  still  continues.  The  papal 
states,  rescued  by  the  military  genius  of  Pope  Julius  II., 
were  impoverished  by  the  extravagance  of  Leo  X.  They 
played  no  important  part  as  political  forces  in  this  time. 
Naples  was  a  bone  of  contention  between  Spain  and 
France,  but  it  was  held  by  the  former.  Francis  I.  of 


360  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

France  tried  hard  to  gain  possessions  in  northern  Italy 
also,  but,  though  victorious  at  Marignano  in  1515,  he 
was  defeated  at  Pavia  in  1525,  and  his  attempt  was  un- 
successful. Still  there  was  no  sign  of  political  unity  or 
power  for  Italy  as  a  whole. 

In  Germany  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century 
found  Maximilian  I.  on  the  imperial  throne,  but  he  was 
no  great  ruler  and  his  grasp  of  power  was  feeble.  To 
this  shadowy  phantom  of  empire  came  by  choice  of  the 
electors  in  1519  the  young  Charles,  King  of  Spain,  as 
grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Duke  of  Burgundy 
and  ruler  of  the  Netherlands  by  virtue  of  descent  from 
Charles  the  Bold,  and  heir  in  direct  line  to  the  Hapsburg 
dominions  of  Austria  and  its  connections  in  Germany.  To 
this  was  added  the  Spanish  sovereignty  over  Naples  and 
Sicily  and  the  newly  discovered  countries  of  America. 
It  was  a  strange  combination  of  circumstances  which 
made  this  young  ruler  heir  to  so  great  possessions,  but 
the  empire  added  little  or  nothing  to  his  real  authority 
and  much  to  his  burdens.  He  was  a  man  of  courage, 
wisdom,  patience;  but  the  task  of  regulating  so  many 
peoples  of  different  tongues  and  interests,  and  just  in  the 
throes  of  the  greatest  religious  revolution  of  history,  was 
too  much  even  for  his  talents  as  a  statesman  and  skill  as 
a  warrior.  Tired  with  the  struggle  he  abdicated  in  1555, 
leaving  the  Austrian  possessions  with  the  imperial  dignity 
to  his  brother  Ferdinand,  and  his  other  dominions  to  his 
son  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  Ferdinand  was  not  formally 
elected  till  1558,  and  reigned  only  a  few  years,  being  suc- 
ceeded by  Maximilian  II.  The  political  significance  of 
the  empire  was  in  nowise  enhanced  under  their  reigns. 

For  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  new  century  Louis  XII., 
a  man  of  some  ability,  was  king  of  France,  but  bequeathed 
to  his  dashing  son,  Francis  I.,  the  fatal  policy  of  aggres- 
sion in  Italy.  Francis  was  by  no  means  the  least  able  of 
the  three  brilliant  sovereigns — Charles  V.,  the  emperor, 
and  Henry  VIII.  of  England  being  the  other  two — whose 
reigns  distinguished  the  age.  History  has  much  to  tell  of 
his  relations  with  his  brother  monarchs,  of  his  persecu- 
tions of  his  Protestant  subjects,  and  something  of  his 
efforts  to  promote  culture  among  his  people.  The  brief 
reign  of  Henry  II.  was  somewhat  promising,  but  his  un- 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          361 

timely  death  left  confusion  and  trouble  in  France.  His 
three  sons — Francis  II.  (husband  of  Mary  Stuart), 
Charles  IX.  and  Henry  III. — followed  in  rapid  succes- 
sion, with  the  shadows  and  shames  that  marked  their  rule. 
Charles  IX.  was  on  the  throne  when  our  period  closes 
(1572)  and  Bartholomew's  Night  had  not  long  occurred 
— August  24th. 

In  England  Henry  VII. ,  sagacious  and  economical, 
built  up  the  weakened  royal  power  and  accumulated  a 
considerable  treasure,  so  that  his  clever,  able,  un- 
principled and  tyrannical  son,  Henry  VIII.  (1509-1547), 
found  a  strong  kingdom  when  he  came  to  the  throne. 
Under  him  and  his  children,  Edward  VI.  (1547),  Mary 
(I553)>  and  Elizabeth  (1558),  with  painful  fluctuations, 
and  under  storm  and  stress,  the  modern  England  as  a 
Protestant  nation  had  its  birth. 

Turbulent  and  unhappy  Scotland  suffered  its  mournful 
defeat  at  Flodden  under  James  IV.  in  1513.  James  V. 
followed  with  a  disastrous  reign,  and  in  turn  left  the  dis- 
tracted kingdom  to  his  beautiful  but  ill-fated  daughter, 
Mary  Stuart  (1542-1587).  Long  regencies  and  many 
conspiracies  and  tumults  marked  these  unfortunate  reigns. 

Turning  from  political  to  social  affairs,  we  remark  that 
the  life  and  customs  of  the  various  European  peoples  va- 
ried, of  course,  in  different  lands ;  but  there  were  matters 
of  general  interest  in  which  all  were  more  or  less  con- 
cerned that  give  to  the  sixteenth  century  a  place  of  high 
importance  in  the  history  of  civilization.  Yet  in  this 
sphere  the  distinctive  feature  still  was  the  religious,  other 
matters  chiefly  continued  the  impulses  and  conditions 
brought  over  from  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  classes  remained  as  before,  but  the  progress  of  re- 
ligion and  culture,  the  upheavals  and  wars,  the  final  de- 
cay of  feudalism  and  chivalry,  as  understood  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  marked  the  transition  to  modern  civilization. 
The  great  religious  and  political  questions  of  the  age  oc- 
cupied all  minds,  and  there  was  much  debate  and  change 
of  attitude  among  the  people.  Yet  the  strife  did  not  pro- 
duce always  the  sweet  flowers  of  piety ;  and  moral  condi- 
tions were  not  so  profoundly  changed  as  would  seem  true 
on  first  thought.  Catholic  writers  sneer  at  the  word  "re- 
formation "  as  a  misnomer,  and  adduce  sayings  of  Luther 


362  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  other  reformers  in  criticism  of  moral  conditions  to 
show  that  there  was  no  real  improvement  under  Pro- 
testant auspices.  It  is  true  that  fearful  evils  continued  to 
mar  the  face  of  European  society,  but  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  moral  reform  was  upon  the  whole  advanced. 

The  now  established  use  of  gunpowder  had  revolutionized 
warfare,  and  that  dreadful  curse  of  humanity  was  made 
even  more  terrible  and  destructive  than  ever  before.  Its 
waste  and  demoralization  were  sad  features  in  the  life  of 
the  reforming  century.  Yet,  in  spite  of  wars  and  changes, 
trade  and  commerce  increased,  for  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica and  the  enlargement  of  men's  knowledge  of  other 
lands  and  contact  with  them  stimulated  industry.  There 
were  many  wild  financial  schemes  and  much  unrest,  and 
yet  the  production  and  power  of  wealth  went  on.  The 
general  character  of  the  century  was  one  of  alertness  in 
all  departments  of  life.  The  dead  past  was  left  to  bury 
its  dead,  and  men  were  busy  in  the  living  present  and 
looking  to  a  grander  future. 

In  science,  art  and  literature  the  age  was  full  of  activ- 
ity. The  discoveries  of  the  fifteenth  century  had  pro- 
duced a  wonderful  interest  in  physical  and  mathematical 
science.  Copernicus  (d.  1543)  propounded  his  theory  of 
the  solar  system.  Tycho  Brahe  pushed  on  astronomical 
science.  Paracelsus  (d.  1541)  made  great  additions  to 
knowledge  in  chemistry  and  medicine,  and  Francis  Bacon, 
a  bright  boy  of  ten  years  of  age  at  the  end  of  this  period, 
was  already  beginning  to  think  and  giving  promise  of 
power  to  come.  The  great  artists  of  the  Renaissance 
brought  their  lives  and  works  over  into  the  new  cen- 
tury. Michel  Angelo  Buonarotti  lived  and  worked  on  till 
1563.  Da  Vinci  (1519)  and  Raphael  (1520)  died  just 
as  the  Reformation  began,  but  Correggio  (d.  1553)  and 
Titian  (d.  1576)  lived  through  it.  In  the  Netherlands 
the  Van  Eycks  and  Holbein  were  opening  the  way  for 
their  more  brilliant  successors,  while  Albert  Durer 
(d.  1548)  and  Lucas  Cranach  (d.  1555)  were  laying  the 
foundation  of  modern  German  art. 

In  literature  the  impulse  from  the  Revival  of  Letters 
went  on  with  power.  Learning  was  the  delight  of  the 
age,  and  none  of  the  principal  lands  of  Europe  were  with- 
out distinguished  representatives  in  the  republic  of  let- 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          363 

ters.  Spain  and  Italy  furnished  in  Lope  de  Vega,  Calde- 
ron,  Cervantes,  Ariosto,  Tasso,  and  others,  great  names 
to  the  history  of  literature,  while  scholars  in  more  pro- 
found fields,  like  Bembo,  Sadolet,  Bellarmine,  and  others, 
held  high  place.  In  England  good  old  Roger  Ascham, 
the  teacher  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  must  not  be  for- 
gotten, nor  the  famous  literary  men  of  that  well-known 
circle  which  adorned  her  reign.  But  in  the  earlier  time 
the  leading  humanist  in  England  was  the  brilliant  and 
unfortunate  Sir  Thomas  More,  the  author  of  "  Utopia," 
friend  of  Erasmus,  and  victim  of  Henry  VIII.  In  France 
the  scholarly  work  of  Faber  Stapulensis  (Le  Fevre 
d'Etaples)  belongs  to  this  early  period.  But  the  leading 
literary  genius  of  the  time  was  the  satirist  Frangois  Rabe- 
lais (1483-1553).  He  was  a  priest  upon  whom  his  vows 
sat  lightly,  and  a  monk  of  two  different  orders  succes- 
sively without  being  an  ornament  to  either.  But  he  was 
a  diligent  student  and  a  master  of  several  languages,  in- 
cluding Hebrew  and  Greek.  His  famous  satire,  Gargan- 
tua  and  Pantagruel,  scored  the  evils  of  the  time,  sparing 
neither  clergy  nor  pope. 

The  greatest  of  the  humanists  was  the  world-famous 
Desiderius  Erasmus  (1468-1536),  born  at  Rotterdam, 
educated  in  his  early  years  among  the  Brethren  of  the 
Common  Life,  but  owing  most  of  his  learning  to  his  own 
efforts,  spurred  by  an  indomitable  thirst  for  knowledge 
and  led  by  a  clear  and  vigorous  intellect.  He  travelled 
and  studied  the  classics  in  France,  England,  Italy,  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland.  Born  a  Dutchman  he  was  a  citi- 
zen of  the  world.  One  of  his  greatest  services  to  culture 
and  religion  was  the  editing  and  publishing  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament.  He  also  wrote  a  book  on  the  Art  of 
Preaching,  and  numerous  other  works,  one  of  the  most 
famous  and  influential  of  which  was  the  satire,  Encomium 
Moriae  (Laus  Stultitiae,  "  Praise  of  Folly"),  written  in 
elegant  Latin,  and  dedicated  to  Sir  Thomas  More  in  play- 
ful punning  upon  his  name  and  the  Greek  title.  In  the 
book  Folly  praises  herself  as  one  of  the  great  powers  of 
the  world,  and  thus  holds  up  to  ridicule  the  sins  and 
weaknesses  of  the  age.  Prelates  and  preachers  are  un- 
sparingly handled,  and  thus  the  author  served  the  reform 
spirit  by  attacking  the  grosser  evils  of  the  day.  But 


364  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

Luther  well  said  of  him  that  he  showed  the  evil  without 
the  remedy.1 

Along  with  Erasmus  should  be  named  the  great  Ger- 
man humanist,  John  Reuchlin  (1455-1522),  the  famous 
scholar  and  jurist,  the  uncle  and  helper  of  Philip  Mel- 
anchthon,  the  fine  Hebrew  student  and  teacher,  the  friend 
and  maker  of  scholars,  the  author  of  many  books.  Nor 
must  we  forget  the  knightly  friend  of  Luther,  Ulrich  von 
Hutten  (1480-1523),  scholar,  poet,  satirist  and  letter 
writer,  whose  trenchant  pen  and  cultured  mind  were  keen 
blades  in  the  fight  against  churchly  corruption. 

2.    COURSE  AND  EFFECTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

The  particular  events  of  the  Reformation  can  for  our 
purposes  be  better  considered  in  connection  with  the  de- 
velopments in  preaching  and  the  lives  of  preachers.  Here 
it  will  suffice  merely  to  glance  at  the  general  course  and 
effects  of  the  movement. 

Those  loud  calls  for  reform  in  doctrine  and  morals 
which  had  sounded  out  in  the  two  preceding  centuries 
grew  in  volume,  and  had  to  be  heard  even  by  the  unwill- 
ing in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  storm  center  was  Ger- 
many; the  occasion  well  known.  In  the  year  1517  a 
Dominican  friar  of  considerable  talent  as  a  popular 
preacher,  John  Tetzel  by  name,  was  appointed  by  supe- 
rior ecclesiastical  authorities  to  preach  and  sell  in- 
dulgences in  Saxony.  He  made  a  hawking  peddler's 
affair  of  it,  and  is  said  to  have  declared  that  as  soon  as 
the  coin  jingled  in  his  box  a  soul  would  fly  out  of  pur- 
gatory. 

Tetzel's  conduct  aroused  the  young  Martin  Luther, 
Augustinian  monk  and  professor  in  the  Saxon  university 
of  Wittenberg,  and  induced  him  to  attack  the  practice  of 
dispensing  indulgences.  This  he  did  by  posting  a  series 
of  ninety-five  theses,  or  propositions,  on  the  door  of  the 
castle  church  at  Wittenberg  as  a  public  challenge  to  dis- 
putation on  the  points  involved.  The  theses  were  read 
far  and  wide  and  created  a  mighty  stir.  With  this  be- 
ginning events  moved  on.  Efforts  were  made  by  the 
pope  and  his  partisans  to  stop  Luther  from  going  further, 

1"Satisfecit  quod  malum  ostendit;  at  bonum  ostendere  et  in 
terram  promissionis  ducere  non  potuit."  Words  often  quoted. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         365 

but  to  no  purpose.  Debate  only  widened  and  intensified 
the  breach.  Luther  soon  had  a  following  all  over  Ger- 
many. The  great  events  of  the  Reformation  followed 
fast,  and  soon  involved  all  Europe.  In  Switzerland,  first 
at  Zurich  and  later  at  Geneva,  reforming  doctrines  spread. 
Even  Italy  and  Spain  were  somewhat  touched  by  the 
movement,  and  in  northern  and  eastern  Europe  the  leaven 
worked.  France  was  deeply  moved,  but  the  persecuting 
policy  of  Francis  and  his  successors  made  the  reformers 
mostly  exiles.  In  England  and  Scotland,  also,  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformation  found  acceptance,  and  wrought 
out  their  well-known  historic  fruits.  The  effects  pro- 
duced by  the  Reformation  upon  the  life,  the  thought  and 
the  subsequent  history  of  the  world  were  far-reaching 
and  permanent,  especially  in  the  religious  sphere. 

Looking  over  the  whole  field  we  see  that  thenceforth  the 
western  world  has  two  leading  forms  of  the  Christian 
faith,  with  many  variations  on  the  Protestant  side.  A 
new  time  has  come  for  Christianity.  No  more  is  it  Rome 
and  heretics,  but  now  it  is  Rome  and  Protestantism.  In 
some  lands  one,  in  some  the  other,  is  in  the  ascendant; 
but  the  history  of  preaching,  as  well  as  of  all  the  other 
institutions  of  Christianity,  must  henceforth  be  written 
from  two  different  points  of  view. 

The  characteristic  of  Protestantism  was  its  revolt  from 
a  corrupted  church  on  the  basis  of  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Word  of  God.  This  character  it  has  preserved 
in  the  main,  and  from  this  fundamental  principle  there 
have  flowed  important  consequences.  One  of  these  has 
been  the  great  variations  among  the  Protestants  them- 
selves. This  came  from  asserting  the  rights  of  private 
judgment  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  and  of  free- 
dom to  choose  one's  belief.  Thus  what  has  been  lost  to 
unity  has  been  gained  to  liberty,  though  only  slowly  and 
by  degrees  has  true  religious  freedom  gained  a  sure  and 
permanent  place  in  even  Protestant  countries.  Another 
important  result  has  been  the  parallel  march  of  reverence 
and  criticism  in  handling  the  Bible.  In  some  cases  rever- 
ence has  lapsed  into  literalism,  in  others  criticism  has 
passed  into  rejection;  but  the  sound  mean  of  an  intelli- 
gent acceptance  of  the  Bible  properly  interpreted  as  the 
norm  of  religious  belief  and  practice  has  held  its  own  and 


366  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

produced  splendid  results  in  the  spread  and  maintenance 
of  Christian  truth.  The  far-reaching  effect  of  this  prin- 
ciple on  preaching  we  shall  see  later. 

The  effect  of  the  Reformation  on  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  has  been  the  seemingly  paradoxical  one  of  both 
weakening  and  strengthening  it.  The  rivals  of  Rome's 
exclusive  claim  to  be  the  church  of  God  on  earth  had 
hitherto  been  the  old  and  decrepit  East  and  the  scatter- 
ing sects  of  so-called  heretics  who  had  arisen  here  and 
there  to  protest,  to  suffer,  to  decline.  But  now  that  claim 
was  challenged  by  representatives  of  the  highest  culture 
and  noblest  piety  in  every  land  of  Europe.  The  move- 
ment was  too  general  to  be  put  down  as  merely  a  heresy, 
and  too  vigorous  to  be  ignored  or  cajoled. 

On  the  other  hand  the  forces  of  reform  within  the 
church  gained  power.  The  corruption  of  morals  which 
had  been  one  of  the  prime  causes  of  the  Protestant  revolt 
was  greatly  checked.  There  has  been  no  Borgia  among 
the  popes  since  the  Reformation.  Also  the  pious  ele- 
ments within  the  old  church  asserted  themselves,  and 
both  charitable  and  missionary  enterprises  received  great 
stimulus.  And  finally  the  great  Council  of  Trent,  which 
was  called  to  deal  with  all  the  questions  raised  by  Pro- 
testantism, reassured  good  Catholics  everywhere  by  re- 
moving some  crying  abuses  and  by  putting  forth  in  re- 
markably clear  form  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Cath- 
olic faith.  That  council,  forced  by  Luther's  revolution, 
is  rightly  regarded  as  one  of  the  mightiest  bulwarks  of 
the  Roman  church,  giving  it  a  new  and  stronger  lease  on 
life. 

3.    RELATION  OF  THE  REFORMATION  TO  PREACHING 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  more  particular  relation 
of  the  Reformation  to  preaching.  It  is  at  once  apparent 
how  close  that  relation  is.  The  great  events  and  achieve- 
ments of  that  mighty  revolution  were  largely  the  work  of 
preachers  and  preaching ;  for  it  was  by  the  Word  of  God 
through  the  ministry  of  earnest  men  who  believed,  loved 
and  taught  it,  that  the  best  and  most  enduring  work  of 
the  Reformation  was  done.  And,  conversely,  the  events 
and  principles  of  the  movement  powerfully  reacted  on 
preaching  itself,  giving  it  new  spirit,  new  power,  new 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          367 

forms.  So  that  the  relation  between  the  Reformation  and 
preaching  may  be  succinctly  described  as  one  of  mutual 
dependence,  aid  and  guidance. 

This  applies  chiefly,  of  course,  to  Protestant  preaching, 
but  the  Catholic  pulpit  also  was  in  some  degree  stimu- 
lated and  otherwise  wholesomely  affected  by  the 
movement.  And  thus,  in  the  most  general  view,  a  dis- 
tinctly new  epoch  in  the  history  of  preaching  meets  us 
now,  and  the  greatest  and  most  fruitful  one  since  the 
fourth  century.  Great  as  was  the  Catholic  preaching  of 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  it  is  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  sixteenth  century  reformers  either 
in  its  character  or  in  its  enduring  results.  Well  does 
Christlieb  1  say :  "  The  age  of  the  Reformation  makes  the 
deepest  cleft,  the  sharpest  turning-point  in  the  historical 
development  of  Christian  preaching,  as  to  contents  and 
form,  spirit  and  character."  This  new  character  of  preach- 
ing is  commonly  recognized  by  Protestant  writers,  and 
its  causes  and  elements  assigned  with  substantial  unanim- 
ity of  judgment.  The  points  are  well  summarized  by 
Broadus  2  as  being :  ( I )  a  revival  of  preaching,  (2)  a 
revival  of  Biblical  preaching,  (3)  a  revival  of  controversial 
preaching,  and  (4)  a  revival  of  preaching  upon  the  doc- 
trines of  grace.  Catholic  writers  also  recognize  a  new  era 
in  preaching,  but  naturally  give  both  the  character  and 
causes  a  different  statement  from  that  of  Protestants. 
We  shall  see  more  of  this  when  we  come  to  study  the 
Catholic  preaching  of  the  age,3  but  here  it  is  proper  to 
take  the  Protestant  point  of  view. 

Discussion  of  the  personality  and  preaching  of  individ- 
uals among  the  reformers  will  be  given  in  the  sketches 
that  are  to  follow;  but  in  viewing  the  general  character 
of  Reformation  preaching  it  will  be  well  to  keep  clearly 
before  us  the  following  points :  ( I )  The  debt  of  Reforma- 
tion preaching  to  the  new  age;  (2)  The  new  emphasis 
given  to  preaching  as  a  vital  element  of  Christian  wor- 
ship and  life;  (3)  The  influence  of  their  conflict  with 
error  upon  the  preaching  of  the  reformers;  (4)  The 
place  and  use  of  Scripture  in  their  sermons;  (5)  The 
homiletical  methods  of  the  time  as  shown  in  some  of  the 
leading  reformers. 

1  Art.  in  Herzog,  Bd.  18,  supplement. 

'Hist.  Prea.,  p.  113  ff.  *  Below,  Chap.  XV. 


368  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

(l.)  The  Reformation  was  a  part,  and  a  very  large 
part,  of  that  general  forward  movement  in  Western 
Christian  civilization  which  is  the  glory  of  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries.  Now  the  Christian  world  was 
emerging  from  medievalism,  as  just  a  thousand  years  be- 
fore it  had  passed  out  of  antiquity.  But  how  different 
were  the  conditions  into  which  these  two  momentous 
turning  points  led !  Then  it  was  a  fall,  now  it  was  a  rise ; 
then  it  was  a  passage  from  decay  to  chaos,  now  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  civilization;  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen- 
turies trembled  with  despair,  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
quivered  with  hope.  Preaching  felt  the  throb. 

The  discoveries  of  science  and  navigation  enlarged  the 
thoughts  of  men,  the  new  methods  of  warfare  made  great 
political  changes,  the  art  of  printing  introduced  a  new 
age  in  literature,  the  revival  of  classical  learning  and 
the  new  birth  of  art  gave  culture  a  higher  tone — and  all, 
as  we  have  seen,  quickened  the  mental  energies  of  man- 
kind. Now,  as  preaching  is  in  large  part  and  essentially 
an  intellectual  exercise  and  one  of  the  forces  of  culture, 
it  was  inevitable  that  it  should  respond  to  this  new  breath 
of  life  in  the  world  of  thought.  And  it  did.  There  is 
a  new  intellectual  vigor  in  preaching,  a  fresh  and  strong 
grasp  of  mind,  which  is  in  notable  contrast  with  the  pul- 
pit work  of  the  times  immediately  preceding.  And  it  is 
natural  that  this  should  be  especially  true  of  Protestant 
preaching,  because  Protestantism  was  the  party  of  pro- 
gress in  the  religious  world. 

Also  in  the  sphere  of  general  social  and  political  life 
the  tokens  of  a  new  time  were  not  wanting.  Feudalism 
had  run  its  course,  the  burgher  class  had  come  to  power, 
and  now,  too,  though  but  little  as  yet  and  slowly,  the 
great  common  people  must  be  reckoned  with  as  a  force 
in  human  affairs.  In  various  ways  the  right  of  the  com- 
mon man  to  be  heard  and  considered  is  gaining  recogni- 
tion. The  Peasants'  War,  with  its  mainly  just  and  rea- 
sonable demands  for  popular  rights,  is  one  of  the  many 
indications  in  this  direction.  Popular  preaching  and  the 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  speech  of  the  people  show 
that  this  recognition  of  the  great  masses  of  humanity 
was  germane  to  the  religious  revolution  of  the  time. 
Luther  was  himself  a  peasant's  son,  and,  though  he  did 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         369 

not  approve  of  the  Peasants'  War,  he  never  lost  his  sym- 
pathy for  the  class  from  which  he  sprang.  In  every  age 
the  pulpit  has  had  distinguished  representatives  who 
stood  with  and  for  the  people  in  their  aspirations  for  an 
enlargement  of  rights  and  privileges  in  social  and  politi- 
cal life,  and  this  sympathy  has  not  failed  to  impart  vigor 
and  strength  to  preaching.  It  was  so  during  the  Re- 
formation. 

(2.)  And  now,  also,  there  was  laid  a  new  and  mighty 
emphasis  on  preaching.  Not  for  long  centuries  had  the 
office  been  held  in  such  high  regard  as  it  won  during  the 
Reformation.  There  were  several  ways  in  which  this 
renewed  interest  found  expression. 

We  have  seen  how,  in  the  ages  of  decline,  preaching  was 
neglected  by  the  clergy.  The  preaching  orders  of  monks 
were  long  a  protest  against  this  neglect,  but  now  they, 
too,  had  fallen  into  decay.  Wiclif's  "  poor  priests  "  were 
also  a  rebuke  to  the  negligent  clergy,  but  the  Lollards 
had  been  put  down.  The  neglect  was  general,  and  there 
were  many  complaints,  but  the  diligence  of  the  reformers 
in  preaching  is  something  marvellous.  Both  Luther  and 
Calvin  were  indefatigable  preachers,  and  their  example 
was  contagious. 

It  is  true  that  the  reformers  used  other  means  to  pro- 
mote their  cause.  They  invoked  and  employed  the  aid 
of  the  civil  powers  in  the  different  ways  appropriate  to 
the  different  countries  in  which  they  labored.  Thus  Lu- 
ther leaned  on  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  made  his  fa- 
mous appeal  to  the  princes  and  nobles  of  Germany; 
Zwingli,  Calvin  and  the  other  Swiss  reformers  sought 
and  secured  the  cooperation  of  the  councils  of  the  cities ; 
in  England,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  reform 
movement,  the  prelates  and  preachers  were  much  mixed 
up  with  the  court  and  government ;  and  in  Scotland  Knox 
was  in  constant  touch  with  the  Lords  of  the  Congre- 
gation and  in  continual  conflict  with  Mary  Stuart.  The 
reformers  also  made  diligent  and  efficient  use  of  the  press 
and  of  correspondence,  both  public  and  private.  Nor 
did  they  fail  to  employ  teaching,  personal  influence,  dis- 
cussion and  debate.  In  fact,  every  legitimate  means  of 
advancing  their  cause  seems  to  have  been  used,  but  none 
the  less  it  remains  true  that  their  chief  instrument  was 


370  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  that  the  most  of 
them  were  exceedingly  diligent  in  the  work.  A  few  ex- 
amples will  abundantly  illustrate  this  point. 

As  is  well  known,1  Luther  was  reluctant  to  enter  on 
the  work  of  preaching,  and  only  did  so  at  the  request 
of  his  ecclesiastical  superiors  while  still  a  monk,  in  1515. 
At  once,  however,  he  began  to  realize  the  value  of  preach- 
ing, and  the  orator's  instinct  within  him  was  awakened, 
so  that  he  sometimes  preached  as  many  as  four  times  a 
day.  After  his  work  as  a  reformer  was  fully  under  way 
his  diligence  in  preaching  was  one  of  his  distinguishing 
marks.  During  1529,  it  is  recorded,2  he  preached  three 
or  four  times  a  week;  in  1541,  often  four  times  on  a 
Sunday  and  two  or  three  times  in  the  week;  on  holidays 
commonly  twice.  His  theory  grew  out  of  his  own  prac- 
tice. In  his  Table  Talk,3  speaking  of  the  urgency  of  his 
friends  about  his  preaching,  he  says :  "  I  am  now  aged, 
and  have  had  much  labor  and  pains.  Nothing  causes 
Osiander's  pride  more  than  his  idle  life ;  for  he  preaches 
but  twice  a  week,  yet  has  a  yearly  stipend  of  four  hundred 
guilders."  With  such  teaching  and  example  before  them, 
it  is  no  wonder  to  find  that  Luther's  friends  and  fellow- 
laborers  were  likewise  zealous  preachers  and  magnified 
their  office  by  much  use. 

Calvin's  astonishing  diligence  is  also  matter  of  his- 
tory. Well  does  Broadus  *  say :  "  The  extent  of  his 
preaching  looks  to  us  wonderful.  While  lecturing  at 
Geneva  to  many  hundreds  of  students  (sometimes  eight 
hundred),  while  practically  a  ruler  of  Geneva  and  con- 
stant adviser  of  the  Reformed  in  all  Switzerland,  France 
and  the  Netherlands,  England  and  Scotland,  and  while 
composing  his  so  extensive  and  elaborate  works,  he  would 
often  preach  every  day.  For  example,  I  notice  that  the 
two  hundred  sermons  on  Deuteronomy,  which  are  dated, 
were  all  delivered  on  week  days  in  the  course  of  little 
more  than  a  year,  and  sometimes  on  four  or  five  days  in 
succession." 

The  Zurich  reformers  were  no  less  busy.  Zwingli  had 
set  the  example  of  frequent  preaching.  Leo  Jud  wore 

1  Nebe,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Predigt,  Bd.  II.,  S.  i. 

*  Nebe,  op.  cit.,  S.  5. 

'Hazlitt's  ed.,  Bohn's  Lib.,  p.  188.  'Hist.  Prea.,  p.  121  f. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          371 

himself  out  at  it.  Bullinger  often  preached  six  or  seven 
times  a  week,  till,  in  his  later  years,  the  council,  warned 
by  Jud's  breakdown,  interposed,  gave  him  an  assistant, 
and  forbade  his  preaching  more  than  twice  a  week.1 

In  England  the  "  unpreaching  prelates  "  were  the  ob- 
ject of  fierce  attack  by  the  reformers,  who  took  good 
care  that  their  own  example  should  enforce  their  polemic. 
In  his  famous  Sermon  of  the  Plough  2  sturdy  old  Latimer 
pays  his  respects  to  "  unpreaching  prelates,  lording  loiter- 
ers, and  idle  ministers  "  in  these  terms :  "  But  this  much  I 
dare  say,  that  since  lording  and  loitering  hath  come  up, 
preaching  hath  come  down,  contrary  to  the  Apostles' 
time;  for  they  preached  and  lorded  not,  and  now  they 
lord  and  preach  not.  For  they  that  are  lords  will  go  ill 
to  plough ;  it  is  no  meet  office  for  them ;  it  is  not  seeming 
for  their  estate.  Thus  came  up  lording  loiterers;  thus 
crept  in  unpreaching  prelates,  and  so  have  they  long  con- 
tinued." Further  on  he  continues :  "  And  now  I  would 
ask  a  strange  question:  Who  is  the  most  diligent  bishop 
and  prelate  in  all  England,  that  passes  all  the  rest  in  doing 
his  office  ?  I  can  tell,  for  I  know  who  it  is ;  I  know  him 
well.  But  now  I  think  I  see  you  listening  and  hearkening 
that  I  should  name  him.  There  is  one  that  passes  all  the 
others,  and  is  the  most  diligent  prelate  and  preacher  in  all 
England.  And  will  ye  know  who  it  is?  I  will  tell  you — 
it  is  the  Devil.  He  is  the  most  diligent  preacher  of  all 
others ;  he  is  never  out  of  his  diocese ;  he  is  never  from 
his  cure;  you  shall  never  find  him  unoccupied;  he  is 
ever  in  his  parish ;  he  keeps  residence  at  all  times ;  you 
shall  never  find  him  out  of  the  way ;  call  for  him  when 
you  will  he  is  ever  at  home.  He  is  the  most  diligent 
preacher  in  all  the  realm ;  he  is  ever  at  his  plough ;  no 
lording  or  loitering  can  hinder  him ;  he  is  ever  applying 
his  business;  you  shall  never  find  him  idle,  I  warrant 
you."  Of  Latimer  himself,  Hooper,3  Coverdale,  Jewel,* 
and  many  others  there  are  records  and  statements  to  the 
effect  of  their  faithful  attention  to  the  preaching  part  of 
their  work.  The  same  is  true  also  of  Knox  and  his  fel- 
low-workers in  Scotland. 

1  For  further  particulars  see  below,  pp.  408,  411,  415. 

*  Fish,  Masterpieces,  I.,  p.  134. 

"Below,  p.  497.  *  Below,  p.  508. 


372  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Among  the  reformers  preaching  resumes  its  proper 
place  in  worship.  The  elaborate  ritual  of  the  Catholic 
service  had  made  the  sermon  but  a  small  affair ;  the  cele- 
bration of  the  mass  had  become  the  center  of  worship, 
and  around  that  much  ceremonial  had  gathered,  so  that 
but  little  stress  was  placed  upon  the  reading  and  exposi- 
tion of  the  divine  Word.  But  in  the  reformed  services 
the  mass  is  abolished,  and  the  exposition  of  Scripture  be- 
comes the  main  thing.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  observed 
periodically,  but  not  at  every  service.  Thus  preaching 
becomes  more  prominent  in  worship  than  it  had  been 
perhaps  since  the  fourth  century. 

Nebe 1  mentions  the  oft-quoted  remark  of  Luther,  that 
preaching  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  worship,  and 
illustrates  Luther's  high  regard  for  preaching  by  a  num- 
ber of  quotations  from  his  sermons,  in  which  he  speaks 
of  preaching  as  "  the  power  and  strength  of  Christen- 
dom," and  as  being  the  office  of  teaching  all  the  virtues 
and  duties  of  Christianity,  of  converting  and  edifying 
souls,  and  the  like.  But  in  all  this  we  must  remember 
that  Luther  was  looking  upon  preaching  as  the  exposition 
of  the  Word  of  God,  and  by  no  means  as  a  man's  oratori- 
cal performance.  Thus  in  his  Table  Talk  he  says  :2  "  I 
am  sure  and  certain,  when  I  go  up  to  the  pulpit  to  preach 
or  read,  that  it  is  not  my  word  I  speak,  but  that  my  tongue 
is  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,  as  the  Psalmist  has  it.  God 
speaks  in  the  prophets  and  men  of  God,  as  St.  Peter  in 
his  epistle  says :  The  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Therefore  we  must  not  sepa- 
rate or  part  God  and  man,  according  to  our  natural  reason 
or  understanding.  In  like  manner  every  hearer  must 
say:  I  hear  not  St.  Paul,  St.  Peter,  or  a  man  speak,  but 
God  himself."  So  in  exalting  preaching  he  was  not  lift- 
ing up  the  preacher,  but  the  message  that  he  brings  from 
God  to  the  people.  This  high  view  of  preaching  was 
shared  by  the  other  reformers,  and  became  one  of  the  dis- 
tinctive notes  of  the  Reformation. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  Protestant  worship — espe- 
cially in  the  Reformed  churches — this  tendency  went  too 
far,  and  in  course  of  time  the  sermon  too  much  en- 
croached upon  the  other  parts  of  the  service.  But 
10p.  «/.,  S.  6  ff.  .  2P.  16. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          373 

even  in  those  Protestant  churches,  as  the  Lutheran  and 
English,  which  retained  much  of  the  historic  liturgy  ren- 
dered into  the  language  of  the  people,  the  sermon  ac- 
quired a  greater  place  in  the  order  of  worship  than  it  had 
for  ages  enjoyed.  This  naturally  tended  to  dignify  the 
preaching  office  in  the  minds  both  of  the  preacher  himself 
and  of  his  hearers,  and  with  increased  respect  came  in- 
creased power. 

Along  with  this  higher  estimation  of  preaching  it  was 
natural  that  there  should  be  required  a  better  prepara- 
tion, both  intellectual  and  spiritual,  in  the  preachers.  The 
mental  and  moral  unfitness  of  very  many  of  the  clergy 
under  the  old  conditions  was  one  of  the  main  objects  of  at- 
tack and  of  reform.  The  reformers  were  bound  by  every 
reason  to  see  that  in  this  respect  there  should  be  great 
and  manifest  improvement.  And  they  were  very  careful 
of  it.  Certainly  some  unfit  men — ill-educated  and  ill- 
regulated — got  into  the  Protestant  ministry;  but  this 
was  the  exception.  All  the  reformers  insisted  on  a  high 
standard  of  religious  and  educational  preparation  for  the 
pulpit.  It  is  well  known  that  the  leading  reformers  were 
themselves  men  of  liberal  culture.  On  Luther's  learn- 
ing— admitted  by  all — Bromel x  well  remarks  that  he  was 
a  "  universally  trained  "  man,  all  the  elements  of  the  cul- 
ture of  his  time  appear  in  his  sermons :  the  Latin  classics, 
philosophy,  dialectic,  natural  history — as  far  as  under- 
stood in  his  days — history,  the  church  fathers  and  other 
ecclesiastical  writers.  At  twenty- four  years  of  age  young 
John  Calvin  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars 
of  the  time,  and  through  life  a  hard-working  student. 
Law,  languages,  theology,  philosophy,  history,  to  say 
nothing  of  all  Biblical  lore,  were  at  his  finger's  ends. 
Zwingli  was  full  of  the  Humanist  culture  of  the  age,  and 
his  chief  impulse  as  a  reformer  came  from  this  side. 
CEcolampadius,  Butzer,  Capito,  Pellican,  Jud,  Myconius, 
Bullinger,  were  all  lights  of  learning  as  well  as  of  reform. 
In  England  Latimer,  Cranmer,  Ridley,  Hooper,  Cover- 
dale,  Parker,  Jewel,  and  many  others  were  highly  edu- 
cated and  learned  men.  Knox,  also,  though  not  so  great 
in  this  direction  as  in  others,  and  by  no  means  the  peer 
of  Luther  or  Calvin,  was  not  deficient  in  such  education  as 
1  Homiletische  Charakterbilder,  S.  93  if. 


374  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

could  be  had  in  his  time  and  country,  diligently  improved 
his  opportunities  to  study  with  Calvin  while  an  exile  at 
Geneva,  and  took  up  late  in  life  the  study  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek.1 

Nor  were  the  reformers  content  to  be  men  of  large 
culture  themselves  alone,  and  simply  set  the  example  of 
diligence  in  study;  they  were  concerned  to  teach  the 
young  men  who  labored  with  them  and  should  come  after 
them.  Wittenberg  and  Geneva  were  seats  of  Protestant 
learning,  and  they  were  thronged  with  students  from  all 
over  Europe.  Cranmer  was  careful  to  provide  for  the 
training  of  the  future  leaders  of  the  English  church,  and 
brought  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge  such  men  as  Peter 
Martyr  Vermigli,  Martin  Butzer,  John  a  Lasco  and  oth- 
ers. While  in  the  Table  Talk  Luther  again  and  again  in- 
sists that  the  preacher  should  be  simple  in  speech,  so  that 
the  people  could  understand  him,  he  by  no  means  under- 
values learning,  as  the  following  passages  show  :2  "  A 
preacher  should  be  a  logician  and  a  rhetorician,  that  is, 
he  must  be  able  to  teach  and  to  admonish.  When  he 
preaches  touching  an  article  he  must,  first,  distinguish  it. 
Secondly,  he  must  define,  describe  and  show  what  it  is. 
Thirdly,  he  must  produce  sentences  out  of  Scriptures, 
therewith  to  prove  and  strengthen  it.  Fourthly,  he  must 
with  examples  explain  and  declare  it.  Fifthly,  he  must 
adorn  it  with  similitudes;  and,  lastly,  he  must  admonish 
and  rouse  up  the  lazy,  earnestly  reprove  all  the  disobedi- 
ent, all  false  doctrine,  and  the  authors  thereof."  Again, 
"  Young  divines  ought  to  study  Hebrew,  to  the  end  they 
may  be  able  to  compare  Greek  and  Hebrew  words  to- 
gether, and  discern  their  properties,  natures  and  strength." 

This  culture  was  required  not  only  by  the  evident  pro- 
prieties in  the  case,  and  by  the  very  nature  of  the  preach- 
ing office,  but  was  emphasized  by  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances in  which  the  reformers  found  themselves. 

(3.)  The  stern  conflict  which  the  reformers  had  to 
wage  with  error  demanded  abilities  and  training  of  no 
mean  order.  The  task  of  Protestantism  was  not  easy. 
Centuries  had  hardened  into  fixed  custom  the  abuses 
against  which  the  reformers  fought;  their  opponents 
were  often  men  of  keen  dialectical  skill,  and  the  early 
\Broadus,  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  194  f.  *Pp.  188,  193. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          375 

N\ 

successes  of  Protestantism  stirred  the  defenders  of  the 
old  order  to  unusual  exertions  and  better  training.  On 
the  other  side,  the  very  character  of  the  errors  which 
they  had  to  oppose  served  to  quicken  and  render  more 
earnest  the  preaching  of  the  reformers. 

The  scandalous  corruption  among  the  clergy,  and,  in 
fact  everywhere,  greatly  aroused  earnest  souls  who  felt 
that  this  condition  of  affairs  should  and  could  be  amended. 
Preaching  must  always  amount  to  something  when  it  has 
definite  evils  to  attack  and  specific  warnings  to  give.  And 
the  awakening  of  the  general  conscience,  which  has  al- 
ready been  adduced  as  one  of  the  causes  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, powerfully  fortified  to  the  hearers  the  appeals  and 
warnings  and  denunciations  of  the  preachers.  The  con- 
sciousness of  a  high  and  holy  mission  to  uplift  and  purify 
the  characters  of  men  by  the  preaching  of  the  Word  of 
God  had  a  large  and  fruitful  place  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  reformers. 

Necessarily,  also,  the  preaching  of  these  men  was  much 
occupied  with  errors  of  belief,  and  was  therefore  largely 
polemical  and  doctrinal.  Luther  says ; 1  "  Wickliffe  and 
Huss  assailed  the  immoral  conduct  of  the  papists;  but 
I  chiefly  oppose  and  resist  their  doctrine ;  I  affirm  roundly 
and  plainly  that  they  preach  not  the  truth.  To  this  I  am 
called ;  I  take  the  goose  by  the  neck  and  set  the  knife  to 
its  throat.  When  I  can  show  that  the  papists'  doctrine  is 
false,  as  I  have  shown,  then  I  can  easily  prove  that  their 
manner  of  life  is  evil.  For  when  the  word  remains  pure, 
the  manner  of  life,  though  something  therein  be  amiss, 
will  be  pure  also."  Externalism  had  obscured  the  truth 
and  hidden  away  the  heart  of  the  gospel.  The  true  nature 
of  Christ's  work  for  men  and  of  the  means  whereby  its 
blessed  fruits  were  available  to  them  must  be  freshly  and 
more  clearly  explained.  And  so  the  great  core  of  reform 
preaching  is  justification  by  faith — that  gracious  act  of 
a  sovereign  but  loving  God  whereby  the  repentant  and 
believing  sinner  is  for  Christ's  sake  pardoned  and  ac- 
quitted. Penances  and  purgatory,  the  almost  divine  medi- 
ation of  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  the  whole  theory  of 
merits  and  indulgences,  every  form  of  human  satisfaction 
for  sin,  must  give  way  before  the  true  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion by  grace  through  faith  in  an  all-sufficient  Saviour. 
1  Table  Talk,  p.  186. 


376  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

"  Christ  and  him  Crucified,"  in  a  clearer  light  and  a  fuller 
tone,  is  the  burden  of  the  preaching;  "justification  by 
faith  without  the  works  of  the  law  "  is  the  keystone  of 
the  doctrine.  "  Protestantism  was  born  of  the  doctrines  of 
grace,  and  in  the  proclamation  of  these  the  Reformation 
preaching  found  its  truest  and  highest  power."  1 

(4.)  But  the  glory  of  Reformation  preaching — that 
great  principle  in  which  all  others  are  necessarily  in- 
volved— was  its  use  of  Scripture.  In  the  hands  of  the 
reformers  the  Word  of  God  again  comes  into  its  heritage 
and  rules  the  pulpit. 

In  the  first  place  the  Bible  is  recognized  as  the  supreme 
authority  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice — credenda  et 
agenda.  The  great  reformers  held  fast  this  principle, 
which  has  already  been  dwelt  on  as  the  characteristic  ele- 
ment of  a  true  reform  in  Christian  doctrine,  worship  and 
life.2  They  naturally  respected  much  the  feelings,  con- 
victions and  reasonings  of  the  Christian  mind,  believing 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  enlightens  and  leads  those  who  truly 
trust  in  God  and  seek  to  know  and  do  his  will.  But  these 
were  secondary  and  subordinate  means;  if  these  judg- 
ments were  in  accord  with  the  Word  of  God  they  could 
be  accepted,  but  that  Word  must  be  the  decisive  test,  the 
ultimate  appeal.  Further,  the  reformers,  though  revolu- 
tionary, were  not  disposed  to  break  wholly  with  the  past. 
Tradition  was  allowed  some  place,  and  many  beliefs  and 
practices,  more  or  less  modified  to  suit  the  new  order  of 
things,  were  retained  which  might  better  have  been 
spared.  Luther  was  rather  more  conservative  than 
Zwingli  and  Calvin,  and  the  English  reformers  decidedly 
more  so  than  Knox.  None  were  ready  to  go  with  the 
extremists  of  their  party,  and  still  less  were  any  disposed 
to  favor  the  fanatical  schemes  of  those  who  under  cover 
of  reformation  would  introduce  anarchy.  This  cautious 
temper  is  responsible  for  the  retention  in  some  Protestant 
bodies  of  some  practices — as  infant  baptism — which  had 
been  sanctioned  and  established  by  the  Catholic  Church, 
but  without  Scripture  authority.  But  notwithstanding 
these  deficiencies  the  main  contention  of  the  reformers  as 
to  the  authority  of  the  Bible  was  clearly  and  bravely  main- 
tained. Tradition  and  "  the  Christian  consciousness  " — 
*Broadus,  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  117.  *  Ante,  p.  315! 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          377 

to  use  a  modern  expression — were  firmly  held  subordinate 
to  Scripture. 

This  fundamental  attitude  of  the  reformers  appears 
constantly  in  their  writings  and  sermons,  and  is  one  of 
the  commonplaces  of  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in 
all  lands.  A  few  illustrations,  however,  may  not  be 
superfluous. 

Bromel 1  speaks  of  this  use  of  Scripture  by  the  re- 
formers as  "  one  of  the  levers  by  which  they  removed  the 
rubbish  in  the  old  church  and  brought  out  to  light  again 
the  everlasting  light  of  the  gospel."  Besides  Luther  he 
instances  Urbanus  Regius,  Brentz,  Ccelius,  Corvinus, 
Dietrich,  Mathesius,  and  others  among  the  pupils  and 
friends  of  the  great  leader,  who  "  all  not  only  preached 
the  Word  of  God,  but  they  so  preached  it  that  the  Word 
was  quite  the  main  thing,  the  art  of  preaching  the  sub- 
sidiary thing."  In  Luther's  Table  Talk,2  among  many 
others,  are  found  these  characteristic  utterances :  "A 
theologian  should  be  thoroughly  in  possession  of  the 
basis  and  source  of  faith — that  is  to  say,  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Armed  with  this  knowledge  it  was  that  I  con- 
founded and  silenced  all  my  adversaries;  for  they  seek 
not  to  fathom  and  understand  the  Scriptures;  they  run 
over  them  negligently  and  drowsily;  they  speak,  they 
write,  they  teach,  according  to  the  suggestion  of  their 
heedless  imaginations.  My  counsel  is,  that  we  draw 
water  from  the  true  source  and  fountain,  that  is,  that  we 
diligently  search  the  Scriptures.  He  who  wholly  pos- 
sesses the  text  of  the  Bible  is  a  consummate  divine." 
Again,  "  Let  us  not  lose  the  Bible,  but  with  diligence 
and  in  fear  and  invocation  of  God,  read  and  preach  it. 
While  that  remains  and  flourishes,  all  prospers  with  the 
state;  it  is  head  and  empress  of  all  arts  and  faculties." 

Calvin,  of  course,  repeatedly  expresses  the  same  pro- 
found conviction,  and  in  a  sermon  on  2  Tim.  3:16,  17, 
"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,"  etc.,  he 
unfolds  in  detail  the  supreme  authority  and  sufficiency  of 
the  written  Word.  The  first  three  of  the  sermons  in 
Bullinger's  Decades  3  are  devoted  to  the  Word  of  God, 

1  Op.  cit.,  S.  98.  2  P.  3- 

*  The  Decades  of  Henry  Bullinger,  that  is,  Fifty  Sermons  Di- 
vided into  Five  Decades;  Parker  Soc.,  ed.  Thos.  Harding.  This 
is  a  reprint  of  an  English  translation  published  in  1577  and 


378  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  the  nature  and  use  of  Scripture  are  at  length  un- 
folded. Among  many  strong  sayings  the  following  oc- 
curs toward  the  end  of  the  second  sermon  as  a  summary  r1 
"  Dearly  beloved,  this  hour  ye  have  heard  our  bountiful 
Lord  and  God,  '  who  would  have  all  men  saved  and  to 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth/  how  he  hath  re- 
vealed his  word  to  all  men  throughout  the  whole  world, 
to  the  intent  that  all  men  in  all  places,  of  what  kind,  age, 
or  degree  soever  they  be,  may  know  the  truth  and  be 
instructed  in  the  true  salvation;  and  may  learn  a  perfect 
way  to  live  rightly,  well  and  holily,  so  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect,  instructed  to  all  good  works.  For 
the  Lord  in  the  word  of  truth  hath  delivered  to  his  church 
all  that  is  requisite  to  true  godliness  and  salvation. 
Whatsoever  things  are  necesary  to  be  known  touching 
God,  the  works,  judgments,  will  and  commandments  of 
God,  touching  Christ,  our  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  duties 
of  an  holy  life!  all  those  things,  I  say,  are  fully  taught 
in  the  Word  of  God.  Neither  needeth  the  church  to  crave 
of  any  other,  or  else  with  men's  supplies  to  patch  up  that 
which  seemeth  to  be  wanting  in  the  Word  of  the  Lord." 
The  English  reformers  are  equally  emphatic.  In  1534 
a  set  of  instructions  was  drawn  up  (probably  by  Cran- 
mer  himself)  2  and  sent  to  all  the  bishops  for  the  guidance 
of  the  clergy.  One  of  the  items  is  as  follows :  "  That 
from  henceforth  all  preachers  shall  purely,  sincerely,  and 
justly  preach  the  Scripture  and  Word  of  Christ,  and  not 
mix  them  up  with  man's  institutions,  nor  make  them 
believe  that  the  force  of  God's  law  and  man's  law  is  like ; 
nor  that  any  man  is  able  or  hath  power  to  dispense  with 
God's  law."  Latimer,  in  his  third  sermon  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer,3  thus  speaks :  "  And  because  the  Word  of  God 
is  the  instrument  and  fountain  of  all  good  things,  we  pray 
to  God  for  the  continuance  of  his  word;  that  he  will 
send  godly  and  well  learned  men  amongst  us,  which  may 
be  able  to  declare  us  his  will  and  pleasure;  so  that  we 
may  glorify  him  in  the  hour  of  our  visitation,  when  God 
shall  visit  us,  and  reward  every  one  according  unto  his 
desert." 

1  Decades,  Vol.  I.,  p.  69. 

"  Works  of  Abp.  Cranmer,  Parker  Society,  ed.  J.  E.  Cox,  p.  461. 

"Sermons  of  Bp.  Latimer,  Parker  Soc.,  p.  354. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          379 

It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  reformers 
gave  to  Scripture  a  better  interpretation  than  that  which 
had  prevailed  before.  The  petty  and  often  ridiculous 
allegorizing  which  marred  even  the  best  mediaeval  preach- 
ing finds  little  or  no  place  in  the  sermons  of  the  reform- 
ers, save  a  trace  here  and  there  in  Luther  and  some  of 
his  followers.  It  is  refreshing  indeed  to  pass  from  the 
wild  and  baseless  spiritualizing  of  the  mediaeval  preach- 
ers to  the  sober,  clear,  grammatical,  and  instructive  ex- 
positions of  Luther,  Zwingli,  Calvin,  and  others  of  their 
schools.  Calvin's  commentaries  on  the  Bible  are  still  very 
valuable,  and  have  scarcely  ever  been  surpassed  for  power 
to  seize  surely  and  express  strongly  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  sacred  Word.  In  giving  this  new  direction  to  preach- 
ing and  basing  it  thus  securely  upon  a  sensible  and 
reasoned  interpretation  of  the  Bible  the  reformers  made 
one  of  the  greatest  possible  contributions  to  Christian 
life  and  progress. 

Again,  it  naturally  follows  that  among  the  materials 
of  reformatory  preaching  the  Scriptures  held  the  post  of 
honor  and  power.  Tales  of  the  saints  and  other  stories 
are  banished.  The  petty  fables  and  impossible  adventures 
which  had  formed  so  large  an  element  of  mediaeval  Catho- 
lic preaching  do  not  appear  in  the  sermons  of  the  Protes- 
tant reformers.  Nor  do  we  find  in  so  large  a  degree  the 
refinements  of  scholasticism,  though  this  still  shows  traces 
of  itself  and  leaves  both  in  the  structure  and  contents  of 
sermons  permanent  impression.  In  Luther's  earlier  ser- 
mons there  is  more  of  it  than  in  his  later,  and  the  dog- 
matic bent  both  of  his  and  Calvin's  followers  is  a  well 
known  affair  of  theological  history.  But  all  fair  allow- 
ances and  subtractions  duly  made,  it  stands  out  clearly 
and  impressively  true  that  the  warp  and  filling  of  Refor- 
mation preaching  was  the  Word  of  God. 

Nor  is  it  mere  citation  of  texts,  more  or  less  apposite 
as  proof  of  doctrine,,  that  makes  the  bulk  of  this  Scriptural 
content.  There  had  been  much  of  this  sort  of  employ- 
ment of  Scripture  in  the  mediaeval  preachers.  But  now 
the  pulpit  deals  more  in  the  exact  application  of  Biblical 
passages  to  matters  of  doctrine ;  and  above  all,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  in  exposition  of  the  Word  as  the  homi- 
letical  form  of  preaching.  All  three  of  the  great  reform- 


3§0  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

ers  delighted  in  expository  preaching,  and  this  was  one 
of  the  most  valuable  and  fruitful  and  enduring  results 
of  their  labors.  To  this  day  the  Lutheran  and  Presby- 
terian preachers  have  had  among  them  many  able  and 
distinguished  expounders  of  the  Word. 

(5.)  The  homiletical  methods  of  the  reformers  of 
course  varied  with  individuals  among  them.  Yet  in  a 
general  way  it  may  be  said  that  their  exposition  of  Scrip- 
ture naturally  led  them  back  toward  the  ancient  homily 
as  the  prevailing  sermon  form.  This  tendency  was  in- 
creased by  the  reaction  against  scholasticism  with  its 
minute  distinctions  and  subdivisions.  There  is  less  of 
logical  analysis  and  of  oratorical  movement  in  the  ser- 
mons of  the  reformers  than  in  those  of  many  of  their 
predecessors  and  followers.  But  still  there  is  no  com- 
plete recurrence  to  the  old  loose  homily,  no  entire  renun- 
ciation of  the  more  compact  homiletical  structure  which 
was  largely  the  gift  of  scholasticism  to  the  pulpit.  But 
this  matter  of  method  can  best  be  presented  by  examples 
from  some  of  the  leading  preachers. 

Luther  cannot  be  said  to  have  had  a  rigid  and  unvarying 
homiletical  method.1  In  his  earlier  work  the  traces  of 
his  Catholic  training  appear  in  the  stiffer  scholastic  form 
than  is  to  be  found  in  his  later  sermons.  In  the  House- 
Postils,  as  reported  by  Dietrich  and  others,  the  other 
extreme  of  free  and  easy  conversational  comment  ap- 
pears. In  the  few  sermons  (some  of  the  Church-Postils) 
which  he  prepared  by  writing  while  at  the  Wartburg, 
there  is  naturally  more  attention  to  form  and  expression 
than  he  could  bestow  in  his  subsequent  strenuous  life; 
and  it  is  said  that  he  himself  regarded  these  as  his  best 
sermons.  But  in  the  larger  number  of  his  discourses,  as 
reported  by  Cruciger  and  others,  we  have  his  most  char- 
acteristic method  of  verse  by  verse  comment  on  the  Gos- 
pel or  Epistle  for  the  day,  or  on  some  extended  passage 
of  his  own  selection.  Luther's  views  of  preaching,  as 
being  properly  an  exposition  of  the  Word  of  God,  are  un- 
folded in  many  places  in  his  sermons  and  his  Table  Talk. 
He  bent  to  his  work  all  the  faculties  of  his  nature  and  the 

1  See  the  excellent  discussions  in  the  works  of  Bromel  and  Nebe, 
which,  however,  have  been  tested  by  a  measure  of  independent 
study. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          381 

culture  of  his  mind.  His  exposition  is  usually  marked 
by  sobriety  of  judgment,  but  sometimes  drops  too  easily 
into  allegorizing  and  into  polemics.  But  both  these  im- 
perfections are  easily  understood  when  his  training  and 
nature,  his  circumstances  and  incitements  are  taken  into 
account.  All  subtractions  duly  made,  it  remains  that 
Luther  was  a  mighty  expounder  of  the  Scriptures,  and  he 
left  this  method  of  preaching  as  a  rich  legacy  to  his 
followers. 

Calvin  began  his  career  as  an  expository  preacher 
while  yet  a  young  law  student  at  Bruges,  when,  in  an 
informal  way,  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  people,  he 
taught  the  Scriptures  to  small  gatherings.  It  became 
the  delight  and  the  established  method  of  his  life.  His 
preaching  differed  from  Luther's  as  the  men  themselves 
differed.1  It  has  less  of  fancy,  less  of  warmth,  less  of 
popular  appeal,  but  more  of  steadiness,  of  logical  con- 
nection, of  severely  exact  interpretation.  While  he  also 
commonly  employed  the  verse  by  verse  comment,  both 
unity  of  theme  and  logical  connection  of  thought  are 
much  in  evidence.  The  notable  series  of  sermons  on  the 
Divinity  and  Glory  of  Christ 2  are  chiefly  expository  dis- 
courses on  passages  from  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy, 
with  some  from  other  Scriptures.  While  Calvin  preached 
without  notes,  his  delivery  was  deliberate  enough  to 
permit  a  reporter  to  get  his  exact  language,  and  thus  a 
large  number  of  his  sermons  have  come  down.3  They 
are  prevailingly  expository.  The  structure  is  no  more 
than  what  was  natural  to  a  very  orderly  mind  which  had 
no  need  to  exert  itself  to  produce  connected  thinking. 
The  sermon  published  in  Fish's  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit 
Eloquence  *  is  on  bearing  afflictions.  The  two  thoughts 
that  trials  are  a  necessary  part  of  Christian  experience, 
and  that  under  them  we  have  the  best  of  consolations, 
are  the  ever-recurring  theme,  and  under  a  variety  of  ex- 
pository comment  and  illustration,  they  pervade  the  en- 
tire discourse. 

1  There  is  a  striking  parallel  in  Broadus,  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  118  ff. 
Hering  also,  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  no  ff  has  some  good  observa- 
tions on  Calvin  as  compared  with  Luther. 

2 1  used  an  old  French  edition  of  these  while  in  Geneva,  and 
there  is  also  an  old  American  edition  of  many  of  them  in  a  volume 
of  translated  discourses  of  both  Luther  and  Calvin,  which  has  been 
found  serviceable.  *  See  Hering,  /.  c.  *  Vol.  II.,  p.  12. 


382  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Of  the  Zurich  reformers  Zwingli  was  also  prevailingly 
expository  in  method,  but,  strictly  speaking,  no  speci- 
mens of  his  sermons  survive.  Bullinger 1  left  a  very 
large  number  of  discourses,  some  in  the  crude  old  Swiss- 
German  tongue,  but  many  also  carefully  done  into  Latin 
by  himself,  most  likely  after  preaching.  Of  these  the 
famous  Decades,  a  series  of  fifty  discourses  divided  into 
five  tens,  are  a  treatise  on  theology  in  the  form  of  ser- 
mons. They  are  without  text  and  are  topical,  but  they 
afford  example  of  the  preacher's  careful  interpretation 
of  Scripture, 'and  suggest  the  pains  and  clearness  which 
must  have  characterized  his  more  strictly  expository  ad- 
dresses. In  their  English  dress  they  were  translated  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  and  became  one  of  the 
training  books  for  the  Anglican  clergy.  The  style  is 
clear,  the  tone  spiritual  and  devout,  the  arrangement  and 
division  logical  and  perspicuous.  He  usually  gives  at 
the  end  a  brief  and  clear  summary  of  the  thought.  They 
naturally  lack  some  of  the  life  and  vigor  of  spoken 
discourse. 

The  preachers  of  the  English  Reformation  are  not  so 
predominantly  expository  in  method  as  their  brethren 
on  the  Continent,  inclining  more  to  the  topical  manner, 
and  even  when  interpretative  comment  is  followed,  the 
adherence  to  text  is  perhaps  less  marked.  Lesson  and 
application  are  rather  to  the  fore  than  exegesis.  Yet 
there  are  instructive  examples  of  pulpit  exposition  among 
the  remains  of  the  great  English  divines  of  the  period. 
Even  Latimer  2  has  a  vigorous  and  suggestive  series  on 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  were  delivered  in  1552  before 
the  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  at  Grimsthorpe  Castle,  Lincoln- 
shire. He  often  strays  off,  as  is  his  manner,  but  there 
is  many  a  shrewd  and  luminous  unfolding  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Word.  Among  the  few  sermons  that  have 
come  down  from  Bishop  Hooper 8  is  a  striking  series 
on  the  prophet  Jonah,  delivered  before  Edward  VI.  and 
his  council  in  the  year  1550.  He  thus  states4  his  rea- 
sons for  taking  this  book  as  his  theme :  "  This  prophet 

1  Bullinger's  Decades,  Parker  Soc.,  four  vols. 
"Sermons  of  Latimer,  Parker  Soc. 

"Early  Writings  of  Bishop  Hooper,  Parker  Soc.,  ed.  Samuel 
Carr.  *  Op.  cit.,  p.  445. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         383 

have  I  taken  to  interpretate  for  two  causes.  The  one, 
to  declare  unto  the  king's  majesty  and  his  most  honor- 
able council,  that  the  doctrine  we  preach  unto  his 
majesty's  subjects  is  one  and  the  same  with  the 
prophets'  and  apostles',  and  as  old  as  the  doctrine  of 
them  both,  and  not  as  new  as  these  papists,  and  new 
learned  men  of  papistry  would  bear  the  people  in  hand. 
The  second  cause  is  to  declare  which  way  the  sinful 
world  may  be  reconciled  unto  God.  And  for  the  better 
understanding  of  the  prophet  I  will  divide  him  into  four 
parts.  The  first  containeth  into  what  danger  Jonas  fell 
by  disobeying  of  God's  commandment.  The  second  part 
containeth  how  Jonas  used  himself  in  the  fish's  belly. 
The  third  part  containeth  the  amendment  and  conver- 
sion of  the  Ninivites  at  the  preaching  of  Jonas.  The 
fourth  part  containeth  an  objurgation  and  rebuke  of  God 
because  Jonas  lamented  the  salvation  of  the  people  and 
city."  Besides  this  general  division  each  discourse  is 
again  divided  into  appropriate  parts.  While  there  is 
much  of  historical  comment  and  lesson,  the  application  to 
existing  conditions  in  England  is  evidently  the  main 
thing  in  the  preacher's  mind.  From  Bishop  Jewel  there 
remains  among  other  sermons  a  series  on  the  Epistles  to 
the  Thessalonians.1  These  were  his  last  discourses  to 
his  flock  at  Salisbury,  and  were  published  from  his  notes 
after  his  death,  by  his  friend  John  Garbrand.  They  are 
replete  with  Jewel's  learning  and  earnestness,  but  hardly 
take  very  high  rank  as  expository  discourses. 


CHAPTER    XII 

PREACHERS  OF   THE  REFORMATION   IN   GERMANY  AND 
GERMAN  SWITZERLAND 

From  our  sketch  of  the  Reformation  and  its  effects 
it  is  fitting  that  we  now  come  to  a  more  particular  study 
of  the  leading  preachers  of  the  great  movement  in  the 
lands  affected  by  it;  and  the  natural  thing  is  to  begin 
with  Germany  and  the  great  leader  there. 

1  Works  of  Bishop  Jew?l,  Parker  Society's  edition. 


384  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

i.    MARTIN  LUTHER  (1483-1546). 

Martin  Luther,1  the  son  of  peasant  parents,  was  born 
at  the  little  village  of  Eisleben,  in  Saxony,  November  10, 
1483.  His  father  and  mother  were  persons  of  vigorous 
mould  and  strong  character,  and  they  brought  up  their 
children  with  rigid  severity  and  yet  with  parental  affec- 
tion, and  nourished  them  in  the  simple  Catholic  piety 
common  among  the  German  peasantry  at  that  time. 

The  Luthers  were  poor,  but  by  one  means  and  another 
Martin  was  sent  to  school  at  different  places.  When 
about  fifteen  years  old  he  is  at  Eisenach,  where  he  adds 
to  his  scanty  means  by  singing  before  the  houses  of  the 
wealthier  folk  and  attracts  the  notice  of  good  Frau 
Ursula  Cotta,  who  gives  him  his  board.  In  1501  he 
is  sent  to  the  high  school  at  Erfurt,  where  he  distin- 
guishes himself  by  hard  study  and  good  progress  in  learn- 
ing. The  father  is  ambitious  that  Martin  shall  be  learned 
and  a  lawyer.  It  is  at  Erfurt,  when  twenty  years  of 
age,  that  Luther  first  has  in  his  hands  a  complete  copy 
of  the  Bible.  He  found  the  Latin  Vulgate  in  the  library 
one  day,  and  was  delighted  with  his  discovery.  Now  he 
began  to  give  to  the  sacred  Word  that  loving  interest  and 
those  lifelong  studies  which  were  to  work  such  a  revo- 
lution in  the  world.  At  Erfurt  the  young  man,  though 
full  of  life  and  spirits  and  fond  of  company,  preserved 
his  purity  unsullied  and  was  much  given  to  prayer  and 
devout  meditation.  Scholasticism  and  theology  attracted 
him,  and  he  neglected  his  legal  studies  for  these.  He 
also  heard  some  reformatory  principles  taught  and 
preached  at  Erfurt  during  his  school  days,  but  they  seem 
not  at  the  time  to  have  made  much  impression  on  his 
mind.  He  took  his  degrees  in  the  regular  course  at  the 
University  of  Erfurt  and  was  graduated  Master  of  Arts 

1  There  is  a  vast  literature  on  Luther.  I  have  found  service- 
able for  this  study,  besides  works  on  church  history,  the  great 
Life  in  German  by  Julius  Kostlin,  which  is  now  also  available  for 
American  readers  in  the  shorter  form;  Scribners,  New  York;  C. 
G.  Schmidt,  Geschichte  der  Predigt;  Wm.  Beste's  Die  bedeu- 
tendste  Kanzelrcdner  der  Lutherischen  Kirche  des  Reformations- 
zeitalters;  and  the  fine  discussion  of  Luther  as  preacher  by  Nebe, 
Zur  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  Bd.  II.,  SS.  1-92.  An  old  edition  of  trans- 
lations of  sermons  by  Luther  and  Calvin,  the  Hauspostillen,  and 
some  other  sermons  have  also  been  consulted. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         385 

in  1505,  second  in  a  class  of  seventeen.  He  began  his 
law  studies  again,  to  please  his  parents,  but  his  heart 
was  not  in  these.  Full  of  internal  struggles  as  to  religion, 
he  went  to  visit  a  friend,  and  found  him  dead — murdered 
in  his  bed.  Shocked  by  this  scene  he  went  out  into  the 
open;  a  flash  of  lightning  startled  him.  In  the  awe  and 
dread  of  these  experiences  he  vowed  he  would  become  a 
monk.  The  current  of  his  life  entered  a  new  channel. 

This  decision  greatly  displeased  Luther's  parents,  and 
he  himself  afterwards  regretted  it,  but  he  adhered  to 
his  vow  and  entered  the  Augustinian  monastery  at  Er- 
furt in  July,  1505,  carrying  copies  of  Virgil  and  Plautus 
under  his  arm.  He  was  fond  of  study,  and  was  also 
a  rigid  and  correct  monk.  He  studied  the  Bible  earnestly 
and  prayed  much.  But  all  his  exercises  failed  to  bring 
the  peace  and  satisfaction  for  which  his  spirit  yearned. 
In  this  time  of  conflict  and  unrest  he  received  help  from 
the  pious  John  Staupitz,  vicar-general  of  the  Augustinian 
order,  who  in  one  of  his  visits  to  the  monastery  at  Erfurt 
became  deeply  interested  in  the  bright  and  struggling 
young  man.  Staupitz  told  Martin  to  look  to  Christ  alone, 
and  not  to  his  own  works  of  devotion,  as  the  source  of 
peace.  An  old  monk  in  the  cloister  gave  him  similar 
advice;  and  so  by  his  studies  of  the  Bible,  by  his  own 
struggles,  and  by  the  help  of  those  friends,  Luther  was 
gradually  led  on  till  he  found  satisfaction  and  assurance 
of  pardon  by  trusting  Christ  alone  for  salvation. 

In  1510  Luther  was  made  professor  at  the  University 
of  Wittenberg,  where  he  was  to  spend  the  rest  of  his 
life.  It  was  during  his  early  days  at  Wittenberg  that 
at  the  earnest  request  of  Staupitz,  but  with  a  genuine 
reluctance  and  self-distrust  on  his  own  part,  Luther  be- 
gan to  preach;  at  first  in  the  little  cloister  chapel,  and 
then,  on  the  sickness  of  the  pastor,  in  the  town  church. 
It  is  food  for  reflection  that  he  thus  modestly  and  falter- 
ingly  took  up  what  was  to  be  the  best  and  principal  work 
of  his  variously  busy  life.  But  as  he  kept  on  the  reluc- 
tance wore  away,  and  he  came  to  love  the  work  of  preach- 
ing with  a  devotion  that  never  gave  out.  About  this  time, 
too  (1511),  occurred  Luther's  memorable  visit  to  Rome, 
whither  he  was  sent  on  business  for  his  order.  While 
in  Rome  he  ascended  the  "  Holy  Stairway  "  on  his  knees, 


386  A   HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

like  many  another  Catholic  devotee;  but  yet  it  is  true 
that  the  worldliness,  corruption,  and  emptiness  which 
he  saw  among  the  clergy  in  Rome,  made  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  his  mind,  and  that  the  words,  "  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith,"  kept  ringing  in  his  ears.  He  came  back 
to  his  work  at  Wittenberg,  was  made  a  doctor  in  1512, 
lectured  on  the  Psalms,  Romans,  Galatians,  and  Hebrews, 
and  became  more  and  more  convinced  of  evangelical 
views.  The  theology  of  Augustine  seized  his  mind,  and 
the  mysticism  of  Bernard  and  Tauler  penetrated  his  soul. 
His  love  for  preaching  grew,  and  he  began  to  teach  that 
the  preachers  should  give  more  diligent  attention  to  their 
work  and  should  preach  less  of  penance  and  works,  and 
more  of  repentance  and  faith. 

In  1517  John  Tetzel  came  preaching  his  indulgences, 
and  on  October  3ist  of  that  historic  year,  Luther  put 
up  his  theses,  and  before  he  knew  it  the  Reformation 
had  begun.  The  bold  deed  of  the  young  theologian  at 
Wittenberg  came  like  the  notes  of  Gideon's  trumpet  to 
the  discouraged  in  Israel,  and  called  forth  a  deal  of  ap- 
proval and  discussion  throughout  all  the  land.  In  two 
weeks  the  theses  were  read  all  over  Germany,  and  from 
now  on  the  name  of  Martin  Luther  is  a  household  word 
in  German  history.  The  events  of  his  life  after  this  are 
the  events  of  the  Reformation  up  to  his  death  in  1546. 

The  story  is  too  long,  too  full  of  incident,  too  impor- 
tant to  be  fully  told  here.  But  it  may  be  well  to  recall 
the  more  important  events  of  that  stirring  and  influential 
life.  Various  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to  hold 
Luther  to  the  Catholic  faith,  but  the  pope  excommuni- 
cated the  bold  monk,  and  he  retorted  by  burning  the  bull 
of  excommunication  in  1520.  Summoned  to  the  imperial 
diet  at  Worms  to  answer  before  Charles  V.  and  the  as- 
sembled magnates,  he  bravely  refused  to  recant.  Then 
comes  his  retirement  in  the  Wartburg  castle,  where  he 
worked  at  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament.  Called 
from  his  retreat  by  the  indiscretion  of  some  of  his  fol-; 
lowers  he  came  back  to  Wittenberg,  where  he  gave  prompt 
and  signal  token  both  of  his  influence  as  a  leader  and  of 
his  power  as  a  preacher,  when  in  a  series  of  eight  ser- 
mons he  resumed  control  of  the  movement,  assuaged 
the  tumult  of  the  extremists  and  steadied  the  minds  of 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          387 

his  friends.  Sorely  tried  in  1525  by  the  Peasants'  War, 
and  by  the  death  of  the  wise  Elector  of  Saxony  (Fred- 
erick), he  found  consolation  in  his  marriage  with  Katha- 
rine von  Bora,  a  former  nun.  In  the  family  relation  he 
was  both  good  and  happy.  His  home  was  a  comfort  to 
him  and  a  joy  to  his  friends  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

The  year  1529  is  marked  by  several  memorable  events 
in  Luther's  life  and  work:  (i)  His  visitation  of  the 
Saxon  churches,  in  which  much  was  done  in  the  settle- 
ment of  their  order  and  worship,  and  the  unifying  of  their 
organization.  (2)  The  issuance  of  his  famous  catechisms, 
which  are  among  the  bulwarks  of  the  Lutheran  theology. 
(3)  His  sad  dispute  with  the  Swiss  reformer  Zwingli  over 
the  Lord's  Supper.  (4)  The  famous  diet  of  Spires  at 
which  the  German  nobles  in  sympathy  with  Luther  made, 
against  the  unfairness  of  the  papal  and  imperial  side, 
the  Protest  which  gave  an  immortal  name  to  the  move- 
ment. In  the  next  year  at  Augsburg  was  presented  to 
the  diet  the  great  Confession  which  defined  the  Protestant 
faith.  Luther  was,  for  prudential  reasons,  not  permitted 
to  be  at  Augsburg,  but  from  Coburg,  within  the  Elector's 
dominions  and  in  easy  reach,  he  kept  in  touch  with  the 
theologians  and  princes  who  were  at  the  diet.  In  this 
and  many  other  ways  he  was  busy  and  burdened.  Writ- 
ing, corresponding,  teaching,  advising,  and  preaching, 
he  had  his  heart  and  hands  full  of  work. 

Amid  all  his  labors  we  must  not  forget  his  services  to 
sacred  song.  He  wrote  many  hymns  and  tunes,  but  his 
immortal  paraphrase  of  the  forty-sixth  Psalm  contains 
the  very  essence  of  his  faith  and  his  work :  "  A  mighty 
fortress  is  our  God." 

Luther  was  far  from  being  satisfied  either  with  himself 
or  his  work,  and  the  inevitable  drawbacks  and  disap- 
pointments that  retarded  and  damaged  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation  were  clearly  seen  and  keenly  felt.  It  was 
natural  that  he  should  be  weary  of  life;  and  his  end 
was  fortunate  for  him,  occurring  not  many  months  before 
the  disastrous  issue  of  the  Smalcald  War  brought 
Protestantism  to  sad  straits  in  Germany. 

The  story  of  Luther's  end  is  brief  and  sweet.  In 
January,  1546,  he  was  invited  to  Eisleben,  his  birthplace, 
to  aid  in  settling  a  dispute  which  had  arisen  Between,  the 


388  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

counts  of  Mansfeld.  He  was  successful  in  this  mission, 
and  on  a  Sunday  of  his  stay  there,  February  I4th,  he 
preached  his  last  sermon.  His  health  had  not  been  very 
robust  for  some  time,  though  there  was  no  special  illness 
now  upon  him.  He  seems  to  have  caught  cold,  for  the 
next  day  after  preaching  he  complained  of  an  oppression 
about  his  chest,  took  his  bed  and  in  a  few  days — February 
18,  1546 — passed  to  his  reward.  It  is  noteworthy  that  he 
should  have  died  away  from  Wittenberg,  and  at  the  little 
place  where,  sixty-three  years  before,  he  had  been  born. 
Friends  were  with  him  at  the  closing  scene  and  tenderly 
ministered  to  him.  One  of  these,  Justus  Jonas,  asked  him 
of  his  faith,  and  the  tried  veteran  expressed  his  full  trust 
in  Christ  as  his  only  hope.  And  so  having  quoted  the  Mas- 
ter's own  dying  words,  "  Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commit 
my  spirit,"  he  passed  peacefully  into  rest.  His  body 
was  taken  to  Wittenberg  for  burial,  and  there  his  body 
awaits  the  resurrection,  near  the  chancel  of  that  old 
castle  church,  several  time's  damaged  and  renewed,  close 
to  the  spot  where  in  his  brave  youth  he  had  posted  his 
theses  and  begun  the  mighty  work  of  his  life. 

Luther's  was  by  no  means  a  perfect  character,  but  it 
was  a  very  robust  and  essentially  sound  one.  The  natu- 
ral man  was  strong  and  brave,  but  somewhat  rude  and 
coarse,  as  his  peasant  blood  and  early  training  would 
lead  us  to  expect.  Yet  he  was  kind-hearted  and  full  of 
the  joy  of  life.  His  was  that  typical  German  nature  in 
which  tender  sentiment — love,  poetry,  music,  aesthetic 
taste — is  strangely  allied  with  a  coarseness  and  violence 
never  excusable  and  sometimes  shocking.  But  this  ruder 
element  was  not  in  Luther  allied  with  self-seeking.  Over- 
bearing he  might  be,  but  he  was  not  selfish.  Much  that 
is  unpleasant  in  manner  and  speech  can  be  forgiven  to  a 
man  of  rugged  honesty  of  purpose  and  sincerity  of  con- 
viction. In  Luther  the  regenerate  man  was  not  wholly 
released  from  the  trammels  of  his  clay,  but  he  was  truly 
converted  and  ever  on  the  way  to  better  things.  He  was 
full  of  the  faith  he  preached ;  and  of  love,  with  a  notice- 
able trace  of  mysticism;  he  was  mighty  in  prayer,  and 
even  in  his  busiest  and  most  exacting  days  did  not  omit 
communion  with  his  God.  One  of  his  favorite  sayings 
was  Bene  orasse  est  bene  studuisse — to  have  prayed  well 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          389 

is  to  have  studied  well.  He  was  regardful  of  his  friends, 
and  honored  them,  though  observant  of  their  faults  and 
not  always  very  considerate  in  his  criticisms.  He  was 
devoted  to  his  people  and  to  his  God,  and  unfaltering 
in  his  heroic  defence  of  the  truth  as  he  saw  it.  The  tried 
man  stood  the  test  of  many  a  tough  encounter.  He  was 
often  lonely,  sad,  and  disappointed.  Though  in  many 
minor  matters  he  is  far  from  being  beyond  criticism,  he 
stood  the  severest  tests  of  character  at  every  essential 
point,  and  towers  colossal  among  the  heroes  of  Chris- 
tian history.  Unbiased  judgment  will  not  gainsay  the 
dictum  of  Carlyle :  "  I  will  call  this  Luther  a  true  great 
man — great  in  intellect,  in  courage,  affection,  and  integ- 
rity; one  of  our  most  lovable  and  precious  men." 

As  a  preacher  Luther  stands  in  the  first  rank  of  those 
who  by  the  ministry  of  God's  Word  have  moulded  the 
characters  and  destinies  of  men.  Among  all  his  other 
offices  and  achievements — as  scholar,  theologian,  author, 
and  leader — we  must  not  forget  that,  first  of  all  and 
chiefly,  he  was  a  preacher.  At  first  he  could  hardly  be 
persuaded  to  preach,  but  when  he  once  got  at  it  nothing 
could  stop  him. 

Like  many  other  great  preachers  he  was  great  not 
in  any  one  preeminent  thing  but  in  a  cluster  of  excellent 
qualities.  Remember  the  stages  of  his  development  as 
a  preacher:  first,  his  monastic  and  scholastic  preparation 
up  to  the  time  of  the  theses,  during  which  he  was  dili- 
gently studying  the  Bible  and  gradually  and  unconsciously 
becoming  mentally  and  spiritually  saturated  with  the 
doctrines  of  grace;  then  his  break  with  Rome  and  the 
sharp  discovery  to  himself  and  the  world  that  he  had 
struck  out  a  new  path  and  was  burdened  with  a  message 
that  he  must  deliver;  then  the  enforced  months  of  Bible 
study  and  reflection  in  the  Wartburg;  and,  finally,  the 
mature  closing  years,  beginning  with  the  triumph  at 
Wittenberg  when,  in  a  few  powerful  sermons,  he  saved 
the  Reformation  from  wreck  by  excess.  Add  to  this 
discipline  of  events  his  natural  gifts  and  character;  his 
strong  intellect,  his  fine  imagination,  his  sympathy  with 
the  people,  his  genial  disposition,  his  courage  and  hon- 
esty ;  add  further  his  learning,  his  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
and  theology,  his  keen  insight  into  men  and  affairs,  his 


390  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

facility  of  speech  and  power  of  statement ;  and  add  above 
all  his  experience  of  grace  and  his  overwhelming  earnest- 
ness of  conviction  that  he  had  and  must  proclaim  the 
truth  of  God  in  matters  vital  to  the  souls  of  his  fellow- 
men — and  there  is  presented  a  sum  of  elements  which 
could  not  fail  to  make  him  one  of  the  greatest  preachers 
of  all  time. 

When  we  read  Luther's  sermons  and  note  the  contents 
of  his  preaching,  in  order  to  do  him  justice  we  must  read 
not  from  our  times  back  to  him,  but  forward  from  the 
times  preceding  up  to  him.  Thus  only  can  we  justly 
appreciate  the  immense  difference  between  his  work  and 
that  of  the  best  mediaeval  preachers,  and  estimate  aright 
the  value  of  the  service  which  he  rendered  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel.  Compare  Luther's  sermons  with  those 
of  Bernard,  of  Antony,  of  Berthold,  of  Tauler,  and  even 
of  Savonarola,  the  greatest  of  his  mediaeval  predecessors, 
and  what  a  difference  strikes  us!  The  earlier  sermons, 
before  he  finally  broke  with  Rome,  naturally  have  more 
in  common  with  the  past.  But  even  in  these  the  grasp 
and  exposition  of  Scripture  are  an  important  element, 
and  traces  of  the  coming  evangelical  development  are  dis- 
cernible. And  so  in  his  maturer  sermons  we  are  prepared 
to  find  the  three  distinctive  qualities  of  his  discourse : 

(1)  Right  interpretation  and  application  of  Scripture; 

(2)  Christ  alone  the  Saviour;  (3)  Union  with  him  by 
faith  the  only  way  of  salvation.     Everything  is  built  on 
this  foundation.     The  exposition  of  the  Word  is  some- 
times general  and  sometimes  detailed,  but  not  often  alle- 
gorical or  strained.    The  context  is  regarded  and  the  real 
intent  and  meaning  of  the  Scripture  writers  is  sought 
and  respected.    The  saints  and  the  Virgin  receive  their 
proper  place,  and  Jesus  Christ  alone  is  exalted  as  Saviour, 
Intercessor  and  Lord.    Works  and  penances  are  rightly 
judged,  and  faith  in  Christ  is  made  the  central  means  in 
salvation.   With  these  essentials  firmly  laid  as  a  founda- 
tion the  structure  of  argument,  illustration,  attack  and 
defence,  elaboration  by  story,  experience,  appeal,  pro- 
ceeds.    There  is  no  show  of  learning,  and  no  effort  to 
strike,  but  everywhere  the  evident  purpose  by  all  sub- 
ordinate means  of  speech  to  bring  God's  truth  home  to 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  his  hearers, 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         391 

As  to  the  manner  and  style  of  Luther's  preaching,  not 
much  needs  to  be  said.  His  outlines  show  no  slavery  to 
the  analytical  method  and  are  often  homiletically  faulty ; 
he  pays  but  little  attention  to  introduction  and  conclusion, 
the  body  of  discourse  is  the  main  thing.  He  often  di- 
gresses, but  usually  has  a  well-defined  theme,  though  not 
always  clearly  stated.  Sometimes  there  is  a  short  text 
and  textual  division,  sometimes  the  old  homily  style  of 
verse  by  verse  comment,  and  sometimes  the  more  ana- 
lytical treatment  of  a  longer  passage  as  a  whole.  In  rich 
and  racy  vernacular  speech  Luther  was  a  master.  He 
thought  with  the  learned,  but  he  also  thought  and  talked 
with  the  people.  Often  there  is  lack  of  elegance,  and 
sometimes  downright  coarseness,  but  on  the  whole  his 
style  of  speech  was  clear  to  the  people,  warm  with  life 
and  sentiment,  and  vigorous  with  the  robust  nature  of 
the  man  himself.  He  had  a  free  impressive  delivery  with- 
out affectation  or  violence.  He  carefully  thought  out 
his  sermons ;  indeed  was  full  of  thought  all  the  time,  and 
spoke  freely  without  manuscript  as  the  occasion  and  the 
circumstances  demanded. 

The  tone  and  spirit  of  Luther's  preaching  were  what 
his  character  and  views  would  lead  us  to  expect.  He 
believed  and  therefore  he  spoke — out  of  his  experience 
and  convictions — out  of  his  sense  of  duty — out  of  love 
to  God  and  men,  and  without  the  fear  of  man  before  his 
eyes. 

2.     FRIENDS  AND  FOLLOWERS  OF  LUTHER 

In  all  parts  of  Germany  there  were  friends  and  fol- 
lowers of  Luther  who  deserve  honorable  mention  in  a 
history  of  preaching.1  Some  of  these  were  preachers  of 
a  high  order  of  merit  themselves,  and  though  they  owed 
much  to  their  great  leader  were  by  no  means  his  slavish 
imitators. 

Though  Philip  Melanchthon  (d.  1560)  was  not  a 
preacher,  yet  as  the  intimate  friend  of  Luther,  the  theo- 
logian of  the  Reformation  and  the  teacher  of  many 
preachers,  he  claims  notice  here.  He  wrote  two  not  very 
important  works  on  preaching.  Even  Luther  could  not 
prevail  on  him  to  preach;  and  it  is  said  that  once  after 

1The  works  of  Beste  and  Schmidt,  mentioned  in  previous  note, 
have  been  of  special  use  in  studying  the  friends  of  Luther. 


392  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

examining  two  candidates  for  the  ministry  he  wept  and 
said,  "  O  poor  me !  who  in  writing  with  the  pen  am  not 
afraid  to  express  my  views  before  the  whole  empire,  yet 
dare  not  do  what  to  these  is  a  little  thing,  speak  before 
even  a  small  congregation  of  hearers."  Yet  he  lectured 
with  effect  to  large  classes  of  students,  and  even  com- 
posed lecture  sermons  (postils)  for  them,  which  show 
good  powers  of  composition.  But  it  was  as  he  said :  "  If 
preaching  were  an  art  merely,  I  too  could  preach."  He 
lacked  not  the  powers,  but  the  call. 

Decidedly  one  of  the  most  notable  preachers  of  the 
Reformation  was  the  beloved  pastor  at  Wittenberg,  John 
Bugenhagen  (1485-1558).  He  received  the  customary 
rudiments  of  education  at  his  native  place,  Wollin  in 
Pomerania,  and  his  university  training  at  Greifswald, 
where  he  stood  high  and  was  graduated  young.  He  be- 
came a  teacher  at  Treptow,  and  in  1512  was  made  a 
priest  and  a  lecturer  in  a  school  of  preachers.  His  exe- 
getical  lectures  rivalled  his  sermons  in  power  and  popu- 
larity. 

By  the  writings  of  Erasmus  and  other  things  he  was 
kept  in  deep  sadness  over  the  decay  in  doctrine  and 
morals.  A  little  later  Luther's  tract  on  the  Babylonish 
Captivity  fell  into  his  hands,  and  though  he  spoke  against 
it  at  first,  a  more  careful  reading  convinced  him  that 
Luther  was  right,  and  he  gave  in  his  adhesion  to  the 
reformer.  He  was  attracted  to  Wittenberg,  where  he 
could  study  the  new  doctrines  at  the  feet  of  the  leader ; 
but  soon  after  his  arrival  there  Luther  went  to  Worms 
and  the  Wartburg.  During  Luther's  absence  Bugen- 
hagen stood  with  Melanchthon  in  opposing  the  extremes 
of  Carlstadt  and  others.  He  also  began  to  lecture  on 
the  Psalms  to  a  few  of  his  fellow  Pomeranians  in  his 
house,  but  so  great  was  his  success  that  the  house  would 
not  hold  those  who  came  to  hear,  and  he  was  induced  to 
give  his  lectures  to  a  wider  public. 

In  1522  he  married  Eva  Rorer,  who  proved  a  good  and 
true  helper  to  him  all  his  life  long.  In  the  same  year 
he  was  appointed  pastor  and  preacher  of  the  town  church 
at  Wittenberg.  The  interesting  old  building  is  still  there, 
and  near  it  the  homely  house  which  bears  an  inscription 
signifying  that  there  John  Bugenhagen  lived  and  labored 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         393 

as  pastor  for  many  years.  One  of  his  most  important 
works  as  pastor  was  to  introduce  the  new  order  of  wor- 
ship— an  event  which  is  recorded  on  a  memorial  tablet 
in  the  old  church  near  the  pulpit  where  Luther,  Bugen- 
hagen,  and  others  of  the  preachers  often  stood.  Bugen- 
hagen  was  an  excellent  pastor  and  organizer,  and  in  the 
latter  capacity  he  was  frequently  called  on  to  visit  other 
places  and  introduce  the  new  order  of  worship  and  church 
polity.  Perhaps  no  other  man — not  even  Luther,  who 
was  not  gifted  in  organization — did  as  much  for  the 
Reformation  in  this  way  as  Bugenhagen.  During  these 
absences  Luther  preached  for  him  very  often  and  also 
looked  after  the  pastoral  work.  He  was  Luther's  con- 
fidant, and  often  cheered  and  encouraged  the  reformer 
in  his  spells  of  depression.  Being  milder  and  more  com- 
posed in  temper  than  Luther,  and  not  timid  like  Melanch- 
thon,  he  was  a  very  necessary  third  in  that  great  trium- 
virate. His  views  of  truth  and  principles  of  action  were 
heartily  in  accord  with  Luther's,  and  their  cordial  mutual 
esteem  and  appreciation  were  never  broken. 

The  organizing  genius  of  Bugenhagen  were  note- 
worthy successes  in  establishing  Lutheranism  in  Bruns- 
wick, and  in  Hamburg  and  Liibeck.  From  the  last  place 
he  was  sent  back  home  highly  honored,  and,  as  a  mark 
of  appreciation,  in  a  coach  and  accompanied  by  an  escort. 
On  the  way  a  young  fellow  of  the  escort,  one  of  those 
refreshingly  stupid  and  meddlesome  persons  who  serve 
to  break  the  monotony  of  life,  asked  Bugenhagen  if  he 
thought  the  Apostle  Peter  would  have  been  willing  to 
travel  in  so  much  style.  The  answer  is  worthy  of  record : 
"  My  son,  if  the  Apostle  Peter  had  visited  such  kind, 
good  people  as  your  masters  in  Liibeck  he  would  doubt- 
less have  permitted  himself  to  be  sent  away  with  respect 
and  comfort ;  but  if  he  had  come  upon  mean  fellows  like 
you  he  would  have  gone  home  afoot." 

After  these  visits  Bugenhagen  for  a  considerable  time 
went  on  with  his  regular  work  at  Wittenberg,  preaching, 
looking  after  his  flock,  and  giving  lectures  at  the  univer- 
sity. In  1533  he  was  made  a  doctor.  Later,  to  his  great 
joy,  he  was  invited  by  the  duke  to  come  to  his  beloved 
native  Pomerania  and  confirm  the  Lutheran  order  in  the 
churches.  After  this  King  Christian  III.  of  Denmark 


394  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

summoned  him  to  Copenhagen  to  preside  over  the  re- 
ligious services  at  his  coronation  and  then  organize  the 
churches  after  the  Lutheran  order.  After  these  notable 
labors  Bugenhagen  returned  to  Wittenberg  and  took  up 
his  usual  work.  But  soon  the  shadows  began  to  gather. 
Luther  died;  Protestantism  was  defeated  in  the  field; 
Wittenberg  itself  was  captured  by  the  imperial  forces 
and  passed  under  the  dominion  of  Maurice  of  Saxony. 
Bugenhagen  took  the  position  that  the  new  ruler  must 
be  accepted  and  the  best  possible  be  made  of  the  un- 
toward change.  For  this,  as  well  as  on  some  minor 
theological  points,  he  was  sharply  criticized  by  the  more 
extreme  Lutherans;  ill  health  and  weariness  befell  him; 
but  in  all  his  trials  his  brave  and  patient  spirit  did  not 
fail.  Unterrified  by  danger,  untempted  by  ambition,  he 
lived  his  good  and  active  life  to  the  end,  and  passed  away 
in  peace  at  Wittenberg,  in  April,  1558. 

An  able  German  writer  x  has  said :  "  In  the  city  from 
which  the  reformation  of  the  German  church  was  to  go 
forth  there  were  drawn  together  three  men:  the  first 
gifted  as  prophet,  the  second  as  teacher,  the  third  as  pas- 
tor ;  Luther  for  Saxony,  Melanchthon  for  Swabia,  Bugen- 
hagen for  Pomerania."  "  Dr.  Pommer,"  as  Luther  some- 
times called  him,  was  an  excellent  scholar,  praised  by 
Melanchthon  as  a  grammaticus,  and  was  also  a  sound 
and  popular  expounder  of  the  Word  of  God.  As  a 
preacher  he  was  not  distinctly  great  in  an  oratorical  way, 
falling  below  Luther,  Jonas  and  others,  and  even  below 
himself  in  other  respects ;  yet  even  here  he  stood  above 
the  common.  His  preaching  was  distinguished  for  its 
honoring  of  Christ,  its  power  of  exposition,  its  devout 
spirit.  He  loved  to  preach,  and  sometimes,  in  Luther's 
no  doubt  just  opinion,  he  kept  on  too  long.  Strange  that 
the  only  remains  of  his  preaching  are  his  funeral  dis- 
course at  Luther's  death,  and  a  sermon  in  the  Pomera- 
nian dialect.  Of  his  other  writings  there  are  quite  a  num- 
ber. In  the  printed  edition  of  the  funeral  sermon  for 
Luther  the  substance  is  given,  but  the  personal  references 
are  wanting.  It  is  no  eulogy,  but  a  strong  and  sensible 
discourse  of  comfort  to  sorrowing  Christians  on  the  no- 
ble passage  in  I  Thess.  4:13-18,  beginning  with  the 

1  Vogt,  quoted  by  Beste,  S.  175. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         395 

words,  "  But  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant,  breth- 
ren, concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye  sorrow 
not  even  as  others  which  have  no  hope."  Fitting  words 
from  the  right  man  on  a  momentous  occasion,  and  the  dis- 
course is  not  unworthy  of  them  all. 

Next,  and  very  close  to  the  immortal  three  just  men- 
tioned, stood  the  lovable  and  eloquent  Justus  Jonas 
(d.  1555).  He  was  the  son  of  a  burgomaster  of  Nord- 
hausen,  received  his  early  schooling  at  home,  and  then 
studied  with  distinction  at  Erfurt  and  Wittenberg.  At 
first  he  devoted  himself  to  law,  then  to  theology,  and  be- 
came professor  of  Holy  Scripture  and  Canon  Law  at 
Wittenberg,  soon  exchanging  for  the  chair  of  Theology. 
He  was  in  cordial  sympathy  with  Luther  from  the  first, 
and  stood  so  close  to  him  in  the  exciting  days  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Reformation  as  to  be  called  "  Luther's 
Jonathan."  He  accompanied  the  reformer  on  his  famous 
journey  to  Worms,  and  shared  the  perils  and  the  triumphs 
of  that  great  occasion.  He  was  also  present  at  the  Mar- 
burg colloquy  with  Zwingli,  and  in  the  next  year  was  an 
influential  figure  at  the  Augsburg  diet,  where  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  was  put  forth.  In  1539  Jonas,  with  Luther 
and  others,  at  the  invitation  of  Duke  Henry,  organized 
the  Lutheran  church  in  the  duchy  of  Saxony — at  that 
time,  as  often  before  and  since,  distinct  from  the  elec- 
torate. Two  years  later  he  was  called  to  Halle  to  be 
pastor,  not  having  yet  been  ordained  as  preacher,  and 
there,  in  the  old  Marienkirche,  which  still  stands  in  medi- 
aeval grandeur,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  buildings  of 
the  town,  Jonas  preached  his  first  sermon.  He  was 
granted  leave  of  absence  from  his  chair  at  Wittenberg 
for  four  years,  and  these  he  so  successfully  filled  with  la- 
bors as  pastor  and  preacher  that  at  the  expiration  of  his 
leave  his  flock  protested  against  his  departure  and  he 
was  allowed  to  remain,  being  probably  released  from  his 
professorship.  Luther  often  visited  him  at  Halle,  and 
coming  by  on  that  last  journey  to  Eisleben  was  accom- 
panied by  his  tried  friend  to  what  proved  to  be  his  death 
scene.  It  was  Jonas  who  stood  by  the  dying  hero,  asked 
him  if  he  would  die  by  the  principles  he  had  taught,  and 
received  his  emphatic  "  Yes."  He  conducted  the  first 
funeral  services  over  Luther  at  Eisleben,  and  afterwards 


396  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

delivered  a  memorial  discourse  at  Halle.  The  fatal  Smal- 
cald  War  brought  great  trials  to  Jonas.  Halle  was  taken 
by  the  emperor's  army,  and  a  Spanish  soldier  was  in- 
structed to  kill  the  preacher,  but  the  man's  heart  failed 
him,  and  the  faithful  pastor  escaped.  He  fled  and  under- 
went many  vicissitudes.  In  his  last  years  he  was  Super- 
intendent of  the  Lutheran  churches  in  the  principality 
of  Coburg  and  died  at  Eisfeld  in  1555. 

In  comparing  him  with  others  Melanchthon  said,  "  Bu- 
genhagen  is  a  grammarian  (scholar),  I  a  logician,  Jonas 
an  orator,  and  Luther  is  all  in  all."  Only  a  few  of  his 
sermons  remain  in  print,  but  they  are  worth  reading. 
While  not  so  impressive  a  speaker  as  Luther,  he  was  a 
preacher  of  excellent  merit.  His  sermons  exhibit  forcible 
argumentation,  accurate  knowledge  and  interpretation  of 
Scripture,  a  sound  gospel,  with  a  warm  nature,  good 
imagination  and  a  lively  and  vigorous  style. 

Caspar  Aquila  (Adler,  d.  1560)  was  one  of  the  younger 
friends  and  pupils  of  Luther.  He  was  of  a  vehement, 
though  not  inconstant  nature.  He  not  only  filled  several 
pastorates  with  distinction,  but  was  at  Wittenberg  one 
of  the  scholars  who  lent  valuable  service  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures.  Like  others  he  suffered  for  his 
zeal  and  courage  when  the  issue  of  the  Smalcald  War 
went  against  the  reformers.  Charles  V.  is  said  to  have 
offered  a  reward  for  the  bold  and  fiery  man. 

As  we  should  expect  from  his  character,  Aquila  was  a 
warm,  soulful  preacher.  Thoroughly  grounded  in  the 
Scriptures  and  filled  with  Luther's  doctrine,  he  preached 
with  glowing  Zealand  some  indiscretion  against  the  papacy 
and  the  Romish  errors,  but  he  also  knew  how  to  speak 
words  of  tenderness  to  needy  souls  and  set  forth  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  in  clear  and  forcible  expression.  In  the 
rhetorical  matter  of  division  and  order  he  is  more  exact 
and  careful  than  Luther  and  Jonas,  while  his  style,  like 
theirs,  is  picturesque  and  popular. 

In  South  Germany  one  of  the  noblest  leaders  in  the 
Reformation  cause  was  the  judicious  and  faithful  John 
Brentz  (1499-1570),  who  came  of  respectable  and  pious 
parents  in  a  small  town  of  the  modern  Wiirttemberg, 
then  Swabia.  As  a  student  from  early  years  he  showed 
both  intellect  and  diligence.  At  the  University  of  Heidel- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         397 

berg  CEcolampadius  was  one  of  his  teachers,  and  among 
his  fellow-students  were  Martin  Butzer  and  Philip  Mel- 
anchthon.  His  sympathies  were  with  Luther  from  the 
start,  and  when  he  began  to  teach  at  Heidelberg,  though 
not  a  priest  or  preacher,  he  could  not  keep  off  the  the- 
ological questions  of  the  time  and  began  to  lecture  on 
Matthew.  Objection  was  made,  and  he  was  ordained 
priest,  but  with  undisguised  evangelical  views.  Soon  he 
received  a  call  to  be  pastor  at  Hall,  an  important  Swabian 
town  to  the  northeast  of  Stuttgart.  Here  for  a  long 
time  he  worked  as  a  pastor,  beloved  and  strong.  He 
gradually,  and  with  great  wisdom  and  moderation,  led 
his  people  into  reformation  views  and  order,  doing  away 
with  the  mass  in  1525.  He  earnestly  opposed  the  Peas- 
ants' War,  but  was  moderate  in  actions  against  it.  He 
agreed  with  Luther  as  against  Zwingli  and  CEcolampa- 
dius as  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  was  at  the  Marburg  Confer- 
ence, and  also  at  Augsburg  when  the  Confession  was 
published.  At  the  request  of  the  duke  of  the  country 
Brentz  helped  to  reform  the  University  of  Tubingen  in 
a  Lutheran  sense.  The  defeat  of  the  Protestant  rulers 
in  the  Smalcald  War  brought  suffering  to  Brentz  and 
others.  He  had  to  hide,  and  so  near  were  the  imperial 
troops  to  finding  him  once  that  their  lances  nearly  pierced 
him  as  they  were  thrusting  about  in  the  straw  or  brush 
which  concealed  him.  It  is  also  told  of  him — as  of  some 
others  in  similar  circumstances — that  he  was  kept  from 
starvation  by  the  good  offices  of  a  hen  who  laid  an  egg 
near  him  every  day.  He  escaped,  however,  to  safer 
places ;  and  when  better  times  came  back  he  was  called 
to  be  the  leading  Lutheran  preacher  at  Stuttgart,  where 
he  fulfilled  an  able  and  blessed  ministry  for  many  years, 
though  not  without  many  trials  and  sorrows,  and  died  in 
September,  1570,  outliving  many  of  his  old  companions. 

The  preaching  of  Brentz  was  full  of  Scripture.  He 
made  exposition  the  principal  thing,  and  in  a  time  of  so 
much  theological  controversy,  in  which  he  bore  no  little 
or  unworthy  part,  he  yet  preached  much  upon  Christian 
duty  and  morals.  For  this  he  was  warmly  praised  by 
Luther.  As  a  man  he  was  distinguished  for  his  purity, 
courage,  moderation  and  fidelity,  while  his  admirable 
modesty  and  unselfish  desire  for  the  good  of  his  people 
won  for  him  the  confidence  and  love  of  men. 


398  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Among  the  younger  men  who  were  gathered  about 
Luther  a  place  of  honor  belongs  to  Veit  (Vitus)  Dietrich 
(1506-1549).  He  was  of  humble  origin,  being  the  son 
of  a  poor  shoemaker  at  Nuremberg.  But  his  promise  was 
observed  by  friends,  and  he  came  to  Wittenberg  to  study, 
supported  by  the  council  of  his  native  town.  His  atten- 
tion to  study  was  notable,  as  well  as  his  amiability  and 
cheerfulness.  He  was  an  inmate  of  Luther's  own  home, 
and  was  brought  into  admiring  intimacy  with  both 
Luther  and  Melanchthon. 

While  Luther  was  at  Coburg  in  1530  watching  the 
proceedings  of  the  famous  diet  of  Augsburg,  Dietrich 
was  his  tried  and  helpful  companion.  In  those  anxious 
days  the  ready  cheerfulness  and  busy  and  tactful  service 
of  his  young  friend  were  a  great  comfort  to  the  heavily 
burdened  reformer.  Dietrich's  letters  to  Melanchthon 
and  to  Luther's  wife  present  a  valuable  picture  of  the 
great  man's  fortitude  and  prayerfulness  during  the  men- 
tal and  bodily  strain  of  that  trying  time. 

After  teaching  awhile  at  Wittenberg  Dietrich  became 
pastor  of  a  church  at  his  native  town  of  Nuremberg.  The 
elder  Osiander  was  pastor  of  the  leading  church  here. 
He  was  involved  in  some  controversies,  and  was,  though 
an  able  preacher,  not  a  very  lovable  man.  His  preaching 
was  rather  of  the  ambitious  sort  and  soared  over  the 
heads  of  the  people.  Dietrich's  more  simple  nature  and 
his  easy,  popular  style,  addressing  itself  to  the  children 
and  the  poor,  were  a  strong  contrast  to  those  of  the  older 
man.  The  consequences  are  easily  surmised — the  crowd 
followed  Dietrich,  and  the  jealousy  of  Osiander  was 
aroused.  He  made  it  in  various  ways  unpleasant  for  Die- 
trich, but  Melanchthon  bears  emphatic  testimony  to  the 
admirable  patience  and  humility  of  his  friend  under  these 
trials. 

Dietrich's  sermons  are  clear,  simple,  and  sweet.  The 
analysis  is  plain,  the  language  easy,  and  the  spirit  devout. 
Besides  his  own  work  he  has  laid  posterity  under  obliga- 
tions by  his  report  of  Luther's  Hauspostillen,  or  "  Home 
Talks,"  and  as  these  differ  considerably  from  the  re- 
ports of  another  auditor  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
they  reflect  a  good  deal  of  Dietrich  as  well  as  of  Luther. 
Specially  worthy  of  mention  is  his  loving  effort  to  reach 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         399 

the  children  in  his  sermons,  and  well  does  Beste  say  of 
him : *  "  His  sermons  are  the  testimonies  of  a  witness 
who  had  turned  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers  into  sap 
and  blood,  and  for  that  very  reason  could  speak  in  the 
most  childlike  simplicity.  They  accordingly  deserve  in 
the  fullest  sense  the  name  of  children's  sermons.  With- 
out Luther's  fiery  spirit  they  are  yet  alive  with  Luther's 
light  and  warmth." 

There  were  many  other  Lutheran  preachers  of  this 
early  period  who  spread  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion in  various  parts  of  Germany.  There  was  the  polemic 
and  lofty  Andrew  Osiander  at  Nuremberg,  the  poetic, 
warm-hearted  John  Spangenberg,  who  in  several  differ- 
ent pastorates  gave  his  clear  and  popular  sermons ;  Nich- 
olas von  Amsdorf,  highly  esteemed  as  man  and  preacher 
by  both  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  though  somewhat  ex- 
treme and  imprudent ;  Anton  Corvinus,  whose  short,  vig- 
orous sermons  won  Luther's  warm  praise,  and  whose 
sufferings  and  toils  for  the  truth  were  equal  to  those  of 
any  of  his  brethren;  John  Mathesius,  the  modest,  retir- 
ing teacher  and  beloved  pastor  at  Joachimsthal,  in  Bo- 
hemia, whose  eulogy  upon  Luther  is  one  of  the  best 
sources  for  the  life  of  the  great  man ;  and  George  Major, 
who  as  a  boy  at  Wittenberg  enjoyed  the  love  and  confi- 
dence of  the  older  leaders,  heard  their  discourses,  profited 
by  their  instructions,  and  became  one  of  the  leading 
preachers  of  the  Reformation  in  several  different  places, 
notably  in  that  old  castle  church  at  Wittenberg,  where 
the  theses  were  posted,  and  where  are  the  tombs  of  Lu- 
ther and  Melanchthon. 

3.     CONDITIONS  PREPARATORY  TO  THE  REFORMATION  IN 
SWITZERLAND 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fiftenth  century  there  existed 
in  Switzerland  conditions  which  had  an  important  bear- 
ing on  the  course  of  the  Reformation  and  the  character 
of  preaching  in  that  country.  The  pride  and  independence 
of  the  Swiss  had  been  greatly  increased  by  their  recent 
notable  military  achievements  in  Italy  and  against  Aus- 
tria. But  the  demoralization  of  the  country  was  sadly 
aided  by  the  system  of  hiring  out  the  brave  Swiss  soldiers 
1  Op  cit.,  S.  293. 


400  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

to  fight  the  battles  of  other  lands  than  their  own.  The 
church  and  clergy  in  Switzerland  were  as  corrupt  as  else- 
where, and  offered  little  or  no  help  against  this  national 
deterioration.  Yet  there  were  some  faithful  priests  and 
other  pious  persons  who  warned  against  the  state  of 
things.  Among  these  was  the  famous  Felix  Hemmerlin 
of  Zurich,  one  of  the  canons  at  the  Grossmiinster,  who 
wrote  against  many  of  the  existing  evils,  and  his  works 
had  considerable  circulation.  The  political  independence 
of  the  Swiss  made  them  restive  if  too  much  pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  on  them  by  church  authorities.  The 
failure  of  the  church  to  institute  needed  reforms  caused 
the  authorities,  municipal  or  aristocratic,  as  the  case 
might  be,  to  take  hold  of  some  of  the  worst  evils  and 
make  regulations  in  the  interests  of  religion  and  morality. 
There  was  a  tendency  also  toward  municipal  control  of 
church  revenues,  and  in  other  ways  toward  giving  to  the 
civil  authorities  a  large  share  in  the  direction  of  ecclesi- 
astical affairs.  When  we  add  to  all  this  that,  through 
Erasmus  and  others,  the  Humanistic  movement,  with  its 
criticisms  of  the  church,  was  more  or  less  prevalent  in 
Switzerland,  we  trace  many  of  the  causes  which  gave 
encouragement  and  stimulus  to  the  great  work  of  Zwingli 
and  the  rest. 

4.     ZWINGLI  AND  His  FRIENDS  AT  ZURICH 

All  these  preparatory  influences  were  more  or  less  ap- 
parent in  Zurich,  the  important  and  vigorous  town  which 
was  to  become  the  main  center  of  reformatory  activity  in 
Switzerland.  Here,  in  the  yet  standing  Grossmiinster, 
in  January,  1519,  the  great  Swiss  reformer  began  his 
work. 

Huldreich  [Ulrich]  Zwingli 1  was  born  on  New  Year's 
Day,  1484,  at  Wildhaus,  in  the  mountainous  and  lofty 
district  of  Toggenburg.  His  parents  belonged  to  an  old 
and  respectable  family  of  plain,  honest  people.  Huld- 
reich was  the  third  among  ten  children.  The  talents  and 
promise  of  the  boy  early  attracted  notice,  and  his  father 

1  Authorities  chiefly  used :  Rudolf  Stahelin,  Huldreich  Zwingli, 
sein  Leben  und  Wirken;  the  same  author's  article  in  Herzog; 
article  by  Prof.  Egli  of  Zvirich  in  Allgemeine  Deutsche  Biogra- 
phic; Zwingli's  IVerke,  Bde.  I.  &  II.,  by  Schuler  and  Schultess. 
I  have  also  consulted  S.  M.  Jackson's  valuable  Huldreich  Zwingli. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,  AGE         40 1 

designed  him  for  the  church.  It  was  well  for  the  lad 
that  his  excellent  uncle,  Bartholomew  Zwingli,  was  parish 
priest  in  a  neighboring  community.  By  his  advice 
Huldreich  was  sent  to  a  good  school  at  Basel,  where  he 
remained  three  years,  and  thence  went  to  Bern.  Like 
Luther,  Zwingli  was  not  only  a  diligent  and  brilliant 
student,  but  was  also  a  musician,  played  and  sang  well, 
and  greatly  delighted  in  the  art.  Having  completed  his 
preparatory  studies,  the  young  scholar  was  advised  to  go 
to  the  University  of  Vienna,  which  was  then  much  under 
the  Humanistic  influence.  Here  he  studied  for  awhile, 
but  returned  to  Basel  to  take  his  degrees  in  regular 
course,  where,  along  with  his  university  studies,  he  also 
taught  in  a  school.  Here  he  formed  his  enduring  friend- 
ship with  Leo  Jud,  who  shared  both  his  scholarly  and  his 
musical  tastes. 

An  event  of  importance  to  both  these  young  men  was 
the  coming  of  Thomas  Wyttenbach  to  teach  and  preach 
at  Basel,  in  1505.  This  man  exerted  a  deep  and  lasting 
influence  on  Zwingli.  He  was  an  excellent  teacher,  and, 
along  with  his  zeal  for  culture,  he  also  held  religious 
views  which  lay  in  the  direction  of  reform.  The  main 
thing  was  that  he  emphasize'd  the  Word  of  God  as  the 
chief  authority  in  matters  of  faith.  He  also  exposed  the 
abuse  of  indulgences,  and  possibly  attacked  other  errors. 

In  1506,  having  completed  his  university  course, 
Zwingli  was  ready  for  his  life-work  and  was  called  to  be 
parish  priest  at  Glarus,  a  town  of  considerable  importance. 
Before  going  to  his  charge  he  preached  his  first  sermon 
at  Rapperswyl,  a  place  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Zurich, 
and  read  his  first  mass  in  his  native  village.  At  Glarus 
Zwingli  lived  and  worked  for  ten  years.  He  felt  from 
the  first  the  responsibilities  of  his  position,  and  conscien- 
tiously labored  to  meet  them.  Though  not  yet  deeply 
spiritual  he  gradually  made  progress,  both  in  the  life  of 
piety  and  in  reformatory  views  of  Christian  truth.  He 
was  no  scholastic  recluse  on  the  one  hand,  fond  as  he 
was  of  books  and  learning ;  nor,  on  the  other,  did  he  allow 
the  social  and  administrative  functions  of  his  office  to 
divert  his  attention  from  his  studies.  He  accumulated 
books  and  worked  hard  upon  them.  But  the  crown  and 
core  of  all  his  studies  was  the  Bible.  In  1513,  without 


402  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

a  teacher,  he  began  the  study  of  Greek  *  in  order  to  get 
his  knowledge  of  the  New  Testament  directly  from  the 
original.  As  a  natural  result  of  his  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures he  already  began  to  give  them  the  chief  place  in  his 
preaching,  though  not  as  yet  were  the  scholastic  and  tra- 
ditional Catholic  elements  put  aside. 

On  the  social  and  pastoral  side  of  his  life  Zwingli  was 
equally  active.  By  nature  he  was  jovial  and  sociable, 
made  friends  easily  and  kept  them.  He  moved  freely 
among  the  people,  was  interested  in  their  life  both  as 
pastor  and  man,  and  learned  their  ways  of  thought  and 
speech.  Zwingli  loved  his  country  and  shared  the  war- 
like spirit  of  his  race.  But  he  was,  like  other  thoughtful 
patriots,  opposed  both  on  moral  and  patriotic  grounds  to 
the  practice  of  mercenary  warfare.  But  though  opposed 
to  it,  yet,  as  a  Catholic  and  patriot,  he  accompanied,  in 
the  capacity  of  chaplain,  the  Swiss  troops  who  fought 
for  the  pope  against  Francis  I.  of  France  in  1515.  He 
witnessed  the  bloody  battle  of  Marignano,  where  some 
Swiss  fought  on  both  sides,  and  where  the  papal  army 
was  defeated.  More  than  ever  disgusted  with  mercenary 
warfare,  and  having  now  larger  knowledge  of  life  and 
men,  including  some  insight  into  papal  affairs,  the  young 
priest  came  home  to  Glarus  to  resume  his  pastoral  work. 
But  in  the  summer  of  1516  he  left  Glarus  and  accepted  a 
call  to  Einsiedeln. 

During  his  two  years'  work  at  Einsiedeln  Zwingli  made 
important  progress  in  his  development  as  a  reformer. 
Then,  as  now,  the  place  was  a  noted  shrine  for  pilgrim- 
ages, because  of  the  possession  of  an  ancient  image  of 
the  Virgin,  which  was  said  to  work  miracles.  Thus  the 
place  was  a  center  for  Romish  superstition  and  for  the 
Catholic  teaching  as  to  merits,  indulgences  and  the  like. 
The  hollowness  of  it  all  was  deeply  impressed  upon  the 
young  preacher's  mind.  He  was  prudent  enough  not  to 
attack  these  things  directly,  but  he  opposed  to  them  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  of  grace  and  redemption  in 
Christ  alone.  Not  only  in  his  own  mind  did  the  evangeli- 
cal sentiments  grow,  but  he  was  enabled  to  impress  them 
upon  the  many  pilgrims  who  came  to  Einsiedeln.  His 

*It  seems  strange  that  neither  at  Basel  nor  Vienna  as  late  as 
Zwingli's  time  was  Greek  a  part  of  the  curriculum  for  the  aca- 
demic degrees. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         403 

power  in  the  pulpit  was  unquestionable,  and  his  name,  and 
to  some  extent  his  teachings,  were  made  known  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  by  those  who  had  heard  him  at 
Einsiedeln. 

In  the  spiritual  life  his  case  was  a  peculiar  one.  He 
had  no  clearly  defined  conversion  like  Augustine's,  no 
such  heart  struggles  as  Luther,  and  never  had  the  spir- 
itual and  mystical  tone  which  marked  both  those  great 
men.  Zwingli's  was  rather  a  gradual  growth  in  spiritual 
and  moral  power,  chiefly  led  by  the  intellectual  apprehen- 
sion of  the  evangelical  doctrines.  Thus  we  cannot  date 
his  actual  conversion.  Before  going  to  Zurich  he  had 
not  been  wholly  free  from  certain  lapses  from  virtue  only 
too  common  among  the  priests  of  his  time.  But  with 
shame  and  genuine  contrition  he  mourned  his  few  falls, 
fought  his  weakness,  and  at  length,  through  grace,  over- 
came. He  had  no  sophistical  excuses  to  make,  but  a 
manly  determination  to  conquer. 

The  appearance  of  Erasmus'  edition  of  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament in  the  spring  of  1516  was  a  great  event  for  Zwingli 
— as  for  the  world.  He  got  a  copy  just  before  leaving 
Glarus,  and  at  Einsiedeln  he  made  a  loving  and  earnest 
study  of  it.  Among  other  methods  of  study  he  copied 
out  in  Greek  the  epistles  of  Paul,  in  order  to  impress  the 
language  more  on  his  mind.  As  a  preacher  he  grew  in 
power  steadily  with  his  theological  and  spiritual  growth. 
And  so,  at  the  end  of  two  years  and  a  few  months  at 
Einsiedeln,  he  was  ready  for  his  life  work  at  Zurich. 

In  a  political  sense  the  city  of  Zurich  was  at  the  time 
practically  free  and  self-governed.  It  had  control  over 
the  canton  of  the  same  name,  and  by  having  joined  in 
1351  the  four  forest  cantons — Uri,  Schwytz,  Underwal- 
den,  and  Lucerne — it  had  become  an  influential  member 
of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  in  some  respects  the  most 
important.  It  was  thus  fitted  to  be  the  center  of  the 
Reformation  for  German  Switzerland.  In  ecclesiastical 
matters  there  was  also  considerable  freedom.  The  two 
leading  churches,  the  Grossmunster  and  the  Frauenmun- 
ster — both  dating  from  the  ninth  century — were  the  seats 
of  ecclesiastical  foundations  that  had  acquired  a  great  de- 
gree of  independence  in  the  management  of  their  own 
affairs. 


404  A    HISTORY   OF  PREACHING 

The  city  also  had  gradually  gained  considerable  power 
in  regulating  the  churches,  both  in  regard  to  the  selec- 
tion of  the  canons  and  the  disposal  of  funds.  But, 
while  these  conditions  were  just  such  as  a  true  leader 
could  make  the  most  of  for  introducing  reformatory 
principles,  the  moral  and  religious  state  of  Zurich  was 
a  fearful  drawback.  Hemmerlin  had  lifted  up  his  voice 
against  the  demoralization  of  people  and  clergy,  but  he 
had  been  sorely  persecuted  for  his  fidelity  and  put  in 
jail.  The  people  were  outwardly  attached  to  the  old 
faith  and  to  the  pope,  and  there  was  little  real  spiritual 
or  moral  basis,  either  in  clergy  or  people,  on  which  to 
build  a  true  reformation  in  religion.  Yet  there  was  some. 
The  devout  and  pious  were  found  in  Zurich  also,  and 
some  who  felt  on  humanistic  grounds  a  hearty  disgust 
with  the  disgraceful  corruptions  of  the  time. 

On  Saturday,  January  i,  1519,  his  birthday,  Huldreich 
Zwingli  began  his  eventful  work  as  "  popular  priest,"  or 
pastor,  of  the  Grossmiinster  church  at  Zurich.  It  was  an 
event  for  history.  He  announced  to  the  assembled  can- 
ons on  that  day  that  he  would  begin  his  preaching  the 
next  day  with  a  course  of  expository  sermons  on  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  taking  the  book  straight  through 
without  regard  to  the  appointed  lessons  of  the  church  ser- 
vice. This  announcement  created  a  stir,  but  the  congre- 
gation gathered  on  Sunday  with  heightened  interest  to 
hear  the  new  preacher  and  the  new  method.  Success 
was  assured  from  the  start.  The  people  came  in  un- 
wonted numbers,  and  the  preacher's  hold  upon  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  his  hearers  was  immediate  and  firm.  Dis- 
tinctly thus  the  Swiss  Reformation  began  with  the 
preaching  of  the  Word  of  God.  Zwingli  afterwards  ex- 
plained the  reason  for  his  course  in  his  letter  of  self- 
defence,  addressed  to  the  bishop  of  Constance,  in  1522. 
He  said  he  began  with  Matthew  in  order  to  make  his 
people  acquainted  directly  with  the  work  and  teaching  of 
Jesus.  He  then  expounded  the  Acts  in  a  similar  way  to 
show  how  the  early  church  was  established  on  Christ's 
foundations.  Next  he  took  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians 
and  to  Timothy  to  set  forth  Paul's  views  of  fundamental 
doctrine  and  church  order;  and  then  those  of  Peter  to 
show  how  that  apostle  agreed  with  Paul.  At  the  time 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         405 

of  writing  his  defence  he  was  expounding  the  Epistle  to 
-the  Hebrews  that  the  congregation  "might  be  led  to 
Christ  as  the  true  High  Priest  and  only  Mediator  between 
God  and  men,  and  might  be  still  clearly  taught  concern- 
ing his  saving  work  and  glory." 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  1519,  the  plague  visited 
Zurich,  and  its  ravages  were  fearful.  Zwingli  was  away 
when  the  epidemic  broke  out,  but  promptly  returned  to 
his  post  and  faithfully  performed  his  arduous  pastoral 
duties  in  that  struggle  with  death.  The  loss  of  friends, 
of  his  younger  brother  Andrew,  who  lived  with  him,  and 
his  own  serious  illness,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
spiritual  life  of  Zwingli,  and  his  brave  devotion  to  his 
duties  in  that  time  of  trial  made  him  more  than  ever  dear 
to  the  people. 

In  this  same  eventful  year  the  work  of  Luther  began 
to  influence  Zwingli.  Hitherto  his  development  and  work 
as  a  reformer  had  been  independent  of  the  great  Saxon. 
Luther's  Leipzig  disputation  with  Eck  in  the  summer 
of  1519  gave  Zwingli  great  joy  and  encouragement.  And 
when,  in  the  next  year,  the  papal  bull  against  Luther 
was  issued  Zwingli  prevented  its  publication  in  Zurich. 
He  unhesitatingly  stood  with  Luther  and  applauded  his 
course,  though  he  foresaw  that  this  decisive- step  meant, 
not  only  for  Luther  himself,  but  for  his  sympathizers 
everywhere,  separation  from  Rome.  He  went  on  with 
his  preaching,  and  without  much  outward  opposition  at- 
tacked yet  more  clearly  and  earnestly  both  the  bad  moral 
condition  of  the  church  and  also  many  of  its  doctrines, 
as  purgatory,  the  intercession  of  saints,  the  legends  of 
the  saints,  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and  especially  monas- 
ticism. 

An  event,  considered  by  many  as  the  decisive  point  in 
the  severance  of  Zwingli's  relations  to  Rome,  befell  in 
the  year  1522.  Some  of  his  people  exercised  their  Chris- 
tian liberty  by  eating  meat  on  a  fast  day.  Zwingli  felt 
that  they  were  somewhat  precipitate,  but  when  they  were 
called  to  account  before  the  authorities  for  their  breach 
of  discipline  he  defended  their  course,  and  this  led  to  his 
preaching  and  publishing,  in  March,  1522,  a  sermon  on 
Christian  liberty  in  matters  of  detail.  In  this  he  not  only 
questioned  the  whole  matter  of  fasts  as  being  without 


406  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Scriptural  foundation,  but  showed  the  worthlessness  of 
external  works  in  general. 

Zwingli  soon  determined  on  a  bold  stroke.  At  his 
suggestion  the  council  of  the  city  issued  a  call  for  a 
great  public  disputation,  to  be  held  at  Zurich  on  the  29th 
of  January,  1523,  to  consider  all  the  questions  in  dispute 
between  the  reformers  and  their  opponents.  The  invita- 
tion was  made  very  general,  but  only  a  few  from  beyond 
Zurich  and  vicinity  came.  Faber  was  there,  with  a  small 
following,  representing  the  bishop  of  Constance,  but  the 
friends  of  Zwingli  were  numerously  present.  He  him- 
self appeared  with  sixty-seven  propositions  which  he  had 
published  and  proposed  to  defend.  There  was  really  no 
discussion  to  speak  of.  Zwingli  had  it  all  his  own  way. 
Faber  contented  himself  with  denying  the  right  of  the 
city  council  of  Zurich  to  pass  on  such  questions,  asserting 
the  supremacy  of  the  church  and  the  pope,  and  making 
other  such  shifts.  The  disputation  came  to  an  end  by 
noon ;  and  in  the  afternoon  the  council  passed  and  re- 
corded a  minute  to  the  effect  that  as  Zwingli  had  not 
been  shown  to  be  in  error,  he  should  go  on  unmolested  in 
his  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God  as  he  had  been  doing ; 
and,  further,  that  other  preachers  in  the  region  should 
preach  only  what  could  be  proved  by  Scripture,  and  that 
the  term  heretic  should  cease  to  be  applied  to  those  who 
pursued  this  course. 

Reforms  in  the  order  of  worship  took  place.  One  by 
one  the  Catholic  ceremonies  disappeared,  making  place 
for  the  simpler  rites  of  the  reformed  service.  Finally 
the  mass  was  abolished,  and  the  simpler  celebration  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  Reformed  manner,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  New  Testament  design,  was  substituted  at 
Easter,  1525.  This  date  and  event  may  be  taken  as  the 
culmination  of  Zwingli's  work  as  a  reformer,  but  the 
strifes  and  trials  of  his  closing  years  must  be  at  least 
briefly  recalled  that  the  story  of  his  life  may  not  be  in- 
complete. 

Among  the  followers  of  Zwingli  was  a  group  of  men — 
some  of  them  men  of  culture — who,  though  agreeing 
with  him  in  his  opposition  to  Rome,  felt  that  his  reforms 
did  not  go  far  enough,  or  sufficiently  reproduce  the  doc- 
trines and  practices  of  the  apostolic  churches.  They  be- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         407 

lieved  that  the  State-Church  system  was  wrong,  and 
came  to  disbelieve  in  infant  baptism.  This  led  to  the 
view  that  persons  who  had  received  that  rite  in  infancy 
should,  on  professing  faith  in  their  maturer  years,  receive 
baptism.  Hence  they  were  called  Anabaptists,  or  re- 
baptizers.  In  regard  to  the  separation  of  church  and 
state,  Zwingli  was  unalterably  opposed  to  their  views. 
But  on  the  question  of  infant  baptism  he  was  at  first  dis- 
posed to  agree  with  them,  only  counselling  moderation 
and  patience.  But  the  Anabaptists  would  not  keep  still, 
and  being,  no  doubt,  somewhat  rash,  they  were  put  in 
the  attitude  of  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  opponents 
of  the  lawful  authorities.  So  at  last  they  were  put  under 
the  ban,  and  some  of  them  were  condemned  and  exe- 
cuted. This  persecution  remains  a  sad  blot  on  Zwingli's 
career;  but  we  must  remember  that  these  men  seemed 
to  him  and  the  Zurich  authorities  dangerous  agitators 
as  well  as  heretics. 

The  suppression  of  the  Anabaptists  showed  Zwingli's 
power  in  Zurich  and  his  firm  adherence  to  his  principles 
of  a  State-Church,  but  it  cost  him  much  trial  and  sorrow, 
and  neither  the  extreme  measures  employed  nor  the  re- 
pression of  liberty  of  conscience  can  be  justified.  Along 
with  this  controversy  came  the  peasant  uprising,  which 
affected  Switzerland  as  well  as  Germany.  Zwingli  sym- 
pathized in  part  with  the  peasants,  urging  the  granting 
of  some  of  their  claims,  counselled  moderation  both  to 
them  and  the  civil  authorities,  and  thus  secured  the  ending 
of  the  trouble  in  Switzerland  without  bloodshed. 

Parallel  with  these  troubles  was  the  painful  and  un- 
fortunate difference  between  Zwingli  and  Luther  over 
the  Lord's  Supper.  The  controversy  began  in  1524  and 
was  carried  on  for  some  time  by  writings.  Zwingli  was 
firmly  persuaded  of  the  soundness  of  his  own  views,  but 
was  ready  to  tolerate  differences  in  others  if  they  could 
hold  together  in  common  opposition  to  Rome.  The  dis- 
cussion showed  that  agreement  was  impossible;  but 
Zwingli  tearfully  offered  the  hand  of  brotherly  love, 
hoping  that  they  might  agree  to  disagree  on  this  theo- 
logically important  but  practically  secondary  matter  while 
they  were  at  one  in  their  acceptance  of  Scripture  and  re- 
jection of  Catholicism.  But  Luther  looked  upon  such 


408  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

compromise  as  a  betrayal  of  truth,  and  declined  Zwingli's 
generous  overtures.  This  was  a  most  unfortunate  epi- 
sode, but  in  it  Zwingli  shows  to  better  advantage  than 
Luther. 

The  third  and  fatal  strife  in  which  Zwingli  was  in- 
volved was  of  a  political  as  well  as  religious  nature.  The 
five  Swiss  cantons  of  Uri,  Schwytz,  Unterwalden,  Lu- 
cerne and  Zug — the  first  four  being  the  famous  heart  of 
the  old  Swiss  Confederacy — remained  firmly  Catholic, 
while  Bern,  Glarus,  and  others  followed  the  lead  of 
Zurich  and  became  Reformed.  The  five  Catholic  can- 
tons, though  weaker  than  the  others  in  wealth  and  popu- 
lation, had  a  preponderating  influence  in  the  Swiss  diet, 
and  used  their  advantage  against  the  Reformed  views. 
The  matter  finally  came  to  blows.  The  Reformed  cantons 
were  somehow  unprepared  to  act  in  concert,  and  the  delay 
was  promptly  utilized  by  the  Catholics.  Zurich  saw  the 
attacking  army  almost  at  her  doors  and  hastily  sent  an 
inadequate  force  into  the  field.  Zwingli  foresaw  the  in- 
evitable defeat,  but  he  bravely  accompanied  the  troops 
and  encouraged  them.  The  fight  occurred  at  Cappel,  a 
town  lying  between  Zurich  and  Zug,  Nov.  n,  1531.  The 
Ziirichers  were  outnumbered  and  defeated,  and  Zwingli 
fell  on  the  field,  sword  in  hand. 

The  character  of  Zwingli  and  the  nature  of  his  work 
of  reform  were  in  many  respects  quite  different  from 
those  of  the  other  great  reformers.  His  religious  life 
was  not  so  deep  or  pure  as  that  of  either  Luther  or  Cal- 
vin, yet  it  was  sincere  and  strong.  His  conscientious  de- 
votion to  duty  was  marked  from  the  first,  and  as  his 
knowledge  of  the  gospel  grew  and  strengthened  his  per- 
sonal experience  of  its  saving  power  likewise  increased. 
With  him  the  humanistic,  moral,  intellectual  side  of  re- 
form was  in  the  lead;  and  the  political  bent  of  his  mind 
was  stamped  on  his  measures  both  by  his  ardent  patri- 
otism and  by  the  character  of  the  place,  institutions  and 
people  with  which  he  had  to  deal. 

As  a  preacher  Zwingli  must  occupy  a  high  place  in 
history.  Preaching  with  him,  as  with  Luther,  was  the 
main  thing,  and  by  it  chiefly  he  gained  and  kept  his  hold 
upon  the  people  and  carried  out  his  work  of  reform. 
He  made  it  his  aim  from  his  first  work  in  Glarus  to 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          409 

bring  the  Word  of  God  home  to  the  people  by  preaching, 
and  this  early  resolve  only  grew  with  his  growth  and  be- 
came the  central  thing  in  his  life  and  work. 

In  form  and  method  of  preaching  Zwingli  was  little 
influenced  by  scholasticism,  and  accordingly  did  not  much 
value  analysis.  The  order  of  thought  was  more  like  that 
of  the  classic  discourse — showing  the  influence  of  his  hu- 
manistic studies.  In  language  his  preaching  was  popu- 
lar, clear,  and  moving.  He  had  less  imagination  and 
feeling  than  Luther,  perhaps  more  than  Calvin.  But  it  is 
not  so  easy  to  judge  of  Zwingli  as  of  the  others,  because 
few  of  his  sermons  have  come  down  to  us.  He  preached 
without  notes,  rarely  wrote  out  for  publication,  and  his 
sermons  were  not  reported.  But  the  traditional  accounts 
"of  his  methods  and  power  all  testify  to  his  wonderful 
ability  in  the  pulpit.  He  had  a  tall,  strong  figure,  a  pleas- 
ing face  and  manner,  but  no  great  voice.  Yet  he  had 
that  magnetic  influence  which  is  ever  characteristic  of 
the  true  orator — people  loved  to  hear  him,  and  were  pro- 
foundly influenced  by  what  he  said.  He  himself  was  gen- 
uinely surprised  by  his  large  congregations,  and  his 
friends  marvelled  at  the  notable  reformation  accom- 
plished by  his  preaching  in  Zurich.  The  composite  nature 
of  his  character  and  work  are  fitly  set  forth  in  the  noble 
bronze  statue  back  of  the  old  Wasserkirche  in  Zurich, 
which  represents  him  standing  with  upturned  face  and 
holding  a  sword  in  one  hand,  a  Bible  in  the  other. 

Among  the  assistants  and  followers  of  Zwingli  at 
Zurich  we  notice  briefly  only  the  two  most  important  ones 
— Jud  and  Bullinger. 

Leo  Jud,1  or  Judae  (d.  1542),  was  born  at  a  small  town 
of  Alsace  in  1482.  He  was  the  son  of  the  parish  priest, 
who,  like  some  others,  in  defiance  of  the  rule  of  celibacy, 
lived  in  an  acknowledged  relation  that  was  really,  though 
not  lawfully,  marriage  with  a  woman  of  respectable 
family.  The  name  Jud,  or  Juda,  indicates  descent  (which 
was  remote)  from  the  stock  of  Israel.  The  boy  Leo  was 
sent  to  school  and  enjoyed  excellent  instruction,  not  only 
in  the  classics,  but  in  morals,  from  a  teacher  of  character 

1  Good  account  of  Jud  in  the  excellent  series,  Leben  und  ausge- 
wahlte  Schriften  der  Voter  und  Grander  der  Reformirten  Kirche. 
The  sketch  of  Jud  is  by  Carl  Pestalozzi,  nephew  of  the  great  edu- 
cator. 


410  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  talents.  Among  his  school  friends  was  Martin  But- 
zer,  who  was  to  be  the  famous  Strasburg  reformer  of 
later  days.  Leo  inclined  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and 
took  employment  with  an  apothecary  in  Basel,  at  the 
same  time  attending  lectures  at  the  university.  But  the 
humanistic  and  theological  bent  of  his  tastes  triumphed 
over  the  medical,  and  he  took  the  regular  degrees  in 
course.  It  was  at  Basel,  as  we  have  seen,  that  he  formed 
with  Zwingli  the  friendship  so  important  to  the  lives  of 
both.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  course  Jud  was  made 
a  deacon  of  St.  Theodore's  church  in  Basel,  and  later  was 
ordained  parish  priest  at  St.  Hippolyte,  in  his  native  Al- 
sace. Here  he  did  faithful  service  for  a  number  of  years, 
preparing  both  himself  and  his  people  for  the  new  life 
that  was  so  soon  to  come  in  the  religious  world.  He 
and  Zwingli  kept  up  correspondence  and  mutual  affec- 
tion, and  so  we  are  not  surprised  that  when  Zwingli  went, 
in  1519,  to  Zurich  he  should  have  recommended  Leo  as 
his  successor  at  Einsiedeln.  Here  accordingly  Jud  next 
lived,  and  for  four  years  followed  in  his  friend's  foot- 
steps, progressing  in  learning  and  grace  while  preaching 
much  and  boldly  the  new  doctrines. 

It  was  a  great  joy  to  Zwingli  when,  a  vacancy  occur- 
ring at  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Zurich,  he  could  again  use 
his  influence  and  secure  his  friend's  election  to  the  pas- 
torate there.  So  Jud  came  to  take  charge  of  his  new  and 
what  proved  to  be  his  lifelong  office  in  February,  1523. 
At  Zurich  he  stood  manfully  by  Zwingli  in  all  the  work 
and  trials  incident  to  introducing  the  Reformation.  Nor 
was  he  simply  an  echo  of  his  friend.  He  had  courage  and 
views  of  his  own,  was  a  faithful  pastor,  an  attractive  and 
instructive  preacher,  a  lovable  and  pious  man,  a  diligent 
and  laborious  scholar.  One  of  his  greatest  services  was 
his  translations,  especially  of  the  Bible.  He  and  others 
labored  at  this,  using,  but  not  exactly  reproducing,  Lu- 
ther's work.  Indeed  before  Luther  had  finished  the  Old 
Testament,  Jud  had  translated  some  of  the  books,  and 
the  first  copy  of  the  entire  Bible  in  German  was  printed 
at  Zurich,  ahead  of  the  Wittenberg  version. 

The  death  of  Zwingli  was  not  only  a  deep  personal 
affliction  to  Jud,  but  he  saw  in  that  catastrophe  the  seri- 
ous peril  of  the  great  work  of  the  Reformation.  Fear, 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          41! 

reaction,  the  opposition  at  Ziirich  and  elsewhere,  made  a 
combination  of  circumstances  that  well  might  appall  the 
stoutest  heart.  Sadly  but  bravely  Leo  stood  by  his  post 
in  that  mournful  crisis ;  suffered  and  endured  much,  and 
helped  no  little  to  rescue  and  establish  on  enduring  foun- 
dations the  imperilled  work.  He  was  deeply  concerned 
that  a  suitable  successor  to  Zwingli  should  be  found.  He 
favored  the  call  to  CEcolampadius,  who  declined ;  with 
excellent  good  sense  and  modesty  he  refused  to  be  con- 
sidered for  the  vacant  place  himself;  and  earnestly  ad- 
vised the  Zurich  council  to  elect  the  young  and  promising 
Henry  Bullinger.  This  was  done,  and  when  Bullinger 
came  Jud  gave  to  the  younger  leader  cordial  support  and 
deference,  as  he  had  done  to  Zwingli. 

Struggling  with  opposition,  with  poverty,  with  bodily 
weakness,  the  heroic  little  man  toiled  on  to  the  end,  and 
died,  greatly  beloved  and  mourned  by  his  friends,  June 
19,  1542. 

Many  writings,  but  few  sermons,  survived  him.  He 
preached  extempore,  expounded  ably,  warned  faithfully, 
but  lovingly;  attacked  boldly,  but  not  violently;  spoke 
with  ease  and  clearness,  and,  while  not  a  preacher  of  pre- 
eminent gifts,  was  heard  with  interest  and  profit.  Zwingli 
said  of  him  in  a  letter  to  Myconius  on  Jud's  election  to 
St.  Peter's :  "  Soon  will  be  there  the  lion  with  the  mighty 
voice  and  the  heart  thirsting  for  righteousness ;  small  in- 
deed of  person,  but  full  of  heroic  courage."  And  his  son, 
gathering  some  accounts  of  his  life,  said  of  his  preach- 
ing :  "  His  sermons  were  buttered  and  salted.  Yet  often 
he  complained  that  when  he  had  with  great  earnestness 
attacked  great  vices  and  weighty  sins,  he  had  not  met 
with  success.  The  cause  might  well  lie  in  this,  that  he 
was  by  nature  so  kind,  mild  and  friendly  a  man.  I  have 
also  understood  from  excellent  citizens  that  no  sermons 
succeeded  with  him  better  than  those  on  Christian  love." 

The  accomplished,  able  and  highly  successful  follower 
of  Zwingli  in  carrying  out  the  work  of  reformation  at 
Zurich  was  Henry  Bullinger1  (1504-1575).  He  was 
born  at  Bremgarten,  near  Zurich,  July  i8th,  1504,  the  son 
of  a  priest  who,  like  Leo  Jud's  father  and  others,  lived 
in  otherwise  honorable,  though  ecclesiastically  forbidden, 
1  V liter  und  Grander,  u.  s.  w.  His  lif&  also  by  Pestalozzi. 


412  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

wedlock.  In  fact  many  congregations  in  Switzerland, 
and  perhaps  elsewhere,  preferred  to  tolerate  this  breach 
of  church  rules  rather  than  endure  worse  evils  in  a  celi- 
bate priesthood.  And  so  this  married  priest  was  beloved 
by  his  congregation,  and  was  a  good  husband  and  father. 
Of  the  other  sons  there  is  no  need  here  to  speak.  Henry 
showed  early  promise,  both  in  mind  and  character,  and 
was  carefully  taught  by  his  parents  and  his  grandmother 
and  in  the  local  schools.  At  twelve  years  of  age  he  was 
sent  to  Emmerich,  in  Germany,  to  a  good  school,  and  later 
he  attended  the  famous  old  High  School  at  Cologne. 
Here,  about  1520,  Bullinger  began  the  study  of  theology, 
just  at  the  time  when  the  strife  over  Luther's  reformatory 
work  at  Wittenberg  was  at  its  height.  What  with  his 
reading  of  the  early  church  fathers,  Luther's  and  Mel- 
anchthon's  writings,  and  most  of  all  the  Bible,  Bullinger 
soon  became  satisfied  that  Luther  was  right.  But  he  did 
not  pass  from  the  old  faith  to  the  new  without  regret 
and  struggle.  Coming  home  from  Cologne,  he  spent  a 
quiet  year  at  his  father's  house  in  Bremgarten,  deepening 
his  knowledge  and  his  convictions.  Then  he  was  school- 
master at  Cappel  for  six  years.  He  did  not  become  a 
priest  in  the  old  church,  for  he  could  not  conscientiously 
celebrate  mass.  But  he  attended  church  for  the  prayers 
and  the  sermon;  and  both  privately  and  in  his  school 
taught  reform  doctrines.  Bullinger  attended  the  disputa- 
tions at  Zurich  in  January  and  in  October,  1527.  Later 
he  heard  Zwingli  preach  and  made  his  personal  acquain- 
tance. Soon  Bullinger's  work  began  to  tell  at  Cappel,  and 
before  a  great  while  the  church  and  abbey  there  were  re- 
formed. The  mass  having  been  done  away  with  and  a 
synod  of  Reformed  ministers  established,  the  way  was 
open  for  Bullinger  to  take  up  the  work  of  preaching, 
which  he  did  along  with  his  school  duties.  Meantime  he 
became  engaged  to  a  sensible  and  lovely  young  lady  at 
Zurich.  His  letter  to  her  proposing  marriage  is  pre- 
served, and  does  credit  to  his  sense,  candor  and  tender- 
ness. After  a  long  betrothal  they  were  married,  and  the 
union  was  a  happy  one  for  life. 

In  1529  the  elder  Bullinger  at  Bremgarten  declared  in 
favor  of  the  Reformed  opinions,  and  after  a  sharp  strug- 
gle the  adherents  of  Rome  gained  the  day  and  he  had  to 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          413 

give  up  his  charge.  But  the  Reformed  element  recovered 
strength,  gained  the  majority  and  called  the  son  to  be 
pastor  in  his  father's  place.  Here  he  labored  for  two 
years;  but  the  war  which  ended  so  disastrously  for 
Zurich  at  Cappel  drove  Bullinger  from  home  and  he 
received  hospitable  entertainment  at  the  house  of  a  friend 
in  Zurich.  He  was  there  when  the  defeat  of  the  Ziirich- 
ers  and  the  death  of  Zwingli  threw  the  city  into  con- 
sternation and  the  work  of  reform  into  danger. 

The  great  question  of  a  suitable  successor  to  Zwingli 
was  seriously  agitating  the  council  and  the  people. 
CEcolampadius  declined  to  leave  Basel,  Leo  Jud  wisely 
rejected  the  overtures  made  to  him,  and  urged  the  coun- 
cil to  choose  Bullinger.  He  was  invited  to  preach,  and 
his  sermons  made  a  deep  impression.  His  election  fol- 
lowed, in  December,  1531. 

In  announcing  Bullinger's  election  to  the  ministers  as- 
sembled before  it,  the  council  took  occasion  to  define  their 
duties,  and  among  items  to  which  no  reasonable  exception 
could  be  taken  made  some  conditions  which  were  a  dis- 
tinct repression  of  the  "  freedom  of  prophesying."  They 
bade  the  ministers  in  their  rebuke  of  sin  not  to  use  harsh 
words,  and,  further,  to  keep  off  the  ground  of  civil 
affairs;  in  other  words,  to  refrain  from  criticising  the 
government.  Bullinger  arose  in  the  painful  silence  with 
which  the  preachers  heard  this  restriction  proclaimed, 
thanked  the  council  in  fitting  terms  for  the  great  honor 
conferred  upon  him,  agreed  cordially  with  most  of  what 
had  been  laid  down  as  to  the  duties  of  the  clergy,  but  said 
he  could  not  accept  the  great  place  offered  him  without 
a  clearer  understanding  of  exactly  what  was  meant  by 
that  fourth  article  in  the  council's  ordinance  as  to  preach- 
ing. He  asked  for  time  to  consult  with  his  brethren  and 
give  his  answer  at  a  future  meeting.  It  was  granted, 
the  consultation  showed  the  unanimous  and  proper  feel- 
ing of  the  preachers  that  they  could  not  work  under  such 
restriction  upon  their  freedom,  and  Bullinger,  at  the 
proper  time,  laid  the  matter  before  the  council  in  an  able 
speech,  in  which  he  showed  that  the  regulation  was  con- 
trary to  Scripture  and  to  sound  policy ;  and  distinctly  de- 
clared he  could  not  accept  the  place  of  leader  unless  the 
objectionable  clauses  were  modified.  Nothing  could  have 


414  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

shown  more  clearly  Bullinger's  fitness  for  leadership  than 
the  promptness,  wisdom,  firmness  and  moderation  with 
which  he  met  this  first  and  severe  test.  The  council 
was  seriously  divided;  the  debate  was  long  and  anxious, 
but  the  majority  came  to  see  that  to  insist  on  their  course 
would  be,  not  only  to  lose  Bullinger,  but  Jud  and  others, 
and  that  this  meant,  at  that  terrible  crisis  of  reaction  and 
despondency,  nothing  less  than  the  ruin  of  the  cause  of 
reformation.  To  their  credit  they  receded,  contenting 
themselves  with  advice  instead  of  regulation  on  the  points 
involved.  Bullinger  then  accepted  the  office  of  preacher 
at  the  Grossmiinster  and  leader  of  the  Reformed  churches 
in  Zurich. 

He  thus  began  his  difficult  and  enormous  labors  with 
a  victory  for  the  cause  of  truth,  and  all  his  after  conduct 
was  of  a  piece  with  this.  Wise,  patient,  courageous,  but 
not  fiery  and  rash,  he  was  the  very  man  to  follow  the  more 
strong  and  impetuous  Zwingli,  and  build  slowly  and 
surely  on  the  foundations  which  that  splendid  leader  had 
laid.  Long  and  arduous  were  his  labors.  There  was 
much  in  Zwingli's  work  at  Zurich  that  needed  comple- 
tion, and  somewhat  that  needed  improvement;  and  the 
general  interests  required  great  wisdom  and  exacting  la- 
bors. But  Henry  Bullinger  was  the  man  for  the  occasion. 
His  correspondence  with  Protestant  leaders  all  over  Eu- 
rope, his  oversight  and  counsel  more  especially  toward 
the  Swiss  churches,  his  administration  of  the  difficult 
affairs  in  Zurich,  his  numerous  writings  and  continued 
studies,  his  faithfully  performed  pastoral  and  pulpit  du- 
ties, and  no  less  thoughtful  and  tender  concern  for  his 
home  and  his  friends,  filled  and  burdened  a  long  and  noble 
life.  He  suffered  great  pains  in  his  last  and  long  illness, 
but  bore  them  with  Christian  fortitude,  till  God  gave  him 
release  on  September  17,  1575. 

As  a  preacher  Bullinger  deserves  more  than  passing  no- 
tice. Tall  of  form,  with  a  flowing  beard,  a  benevolent  and 
intellectual  expression,  a  pleasing  voice,  a  dignified  yet 
animated  bearing,  he  had  good  external  qualifications  for 
public  speech.  His  preaching,  like  that  of  the  other  re- 
formers, was  chiefly  expository.  In  the  first  year  of  his 
pastorate  he  preached  series  of  discourses  on  Hebrews, 
the  Epistle  of  Peter,  and  the  Gospel  of  John ;  and  in  the 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         415 

first  ten  years  he  had  gone  through  nearly  all  the  books 
of  the  Bible.  His  diligence  and  fruitfulness,  especially 
when  his  other  labors  are  remembered,  were  simply 
amazing.  He  often  preached  six,  and  sometimes  seven 
and  eight,  times  a  week.  When  Leo  Jud  broke  down 
under  similar  labors  the  council  became  alarmed  for  Bui- 
linger  also,  gave  him  an  assistant,  and  requested  him  to 
preach  only  twice  a  week.  His  biographer  enumerates 
as  having  come  down  from  the  eighteen  years  following 
1549  one  hundred  sermons  on  the  book  of  Revelation, 
sixty-six  on  Daniel,  one  hundred  and  seventy  on  Jere- 
miah, one  hundred  and  ninety  on  Isaiah,  twenty-four  fast 
sermons,  and  a  great  number  of  single  discourses.  Be- 
sides these  and  other  published  sermons  there  were,  of 
course,  a  great  many  more.  Many  of  his  sermons  were 
published  in  Latin  for  preachers  beyond  the  home  land, 
and  others  in  the  queer  old  Swiss  German  of  the  time. 
Some  of  them  were  translated  into  other  tongues.  He 
preached  in  the  simple  language  of  the  people,  without 
oratorical  effort,  but  with  warmth  and  earnestness,  with 
sincere  effort  to  bring  God's  truth  home  to  the  under- 
standings and  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  Thus  for  many 
years  he  held  a  firm  grasp  on  his  congregation  and  was 
listened  to  with  interest,  respect  and  reverence  to  the  end 
of  his  laborious  and  faithful  ministry.  God  be  praised 
for  the  lives  and  works  of  such  men  as  Henry  Bullinger ! 
There  were  other  preachers  at  Zurich  and  vicinity  be- 
sides the  leaders  who  have  been  named,  but  we  must 
turn  to  the  two  other  important  centers  of  reform  influ- 
ence in  German  Switzerland  and  give  brief  account  of 
the  leading  preachers. 

5.     REFORMERS  AT  BASEL  AND  BERN 

Basel  (French  Bale)  is  an  important  city  on  the  Rhine 
and  near  the  French  border.  Noted  as  a  fortress  in  the 
time  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  received  its  name,  "  The 
Royal."  During  the  Middle  Ages  it  had  a  checkered  his- 
tory as  an  imperial  city.  It  was  devastated  by  plague  and 
earthquake,  but  survived  and  grew  strong.  Here,  in  the 
sad  fourteenth  century,  the  noisy  Flagellants  wept  and 
beat  themselves,  and  here,  too,  pious  mystics  like  Nicho- 
las and  other  "  Friends  of  God  "  found  home  and  influ- 


41 6  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

ence.  Here  also  during  the  fifteenth  century  one  of  the 
famous  so-called  Reforming  Councils  held  its  long  and 
mostly  futile  sessions.  The  revival  of  learning  found 
welcome  in  Basel  in  the  circles  that  gathered  first  about 
Reuchlin  and  later  about  Erasmus,  and  some  noted 
printers  and  publishers  fostered  this  literary  distinction. 
In  1501  Basel  took  the  memorable  and  decisive  step  of 
joining  the  Swiss  Federation ;  this  brought  and  confirmed 
larger  freedom  in  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
making  it  possible  for  the  city  government,  as  at  Zurich, 
to  have  large  share  in  shaping  the  course  of  events  in  re- 
ligious history.  In  1513  the  great  scholar  Erasmus  made 
his  first  visit  to  Basel  to  see  the  publisher  Froben  (Fro- 
benius)  in  regard  to  publishing  one  of  his  works,  and 
hither,  off  and  on,  he  came  for  the  rest  of  his  wandering 
life,  till  he  died  and  was  buried  here  in  1536.  The  great 
event  for  Erasmus,  Froben,  Basel,  and  the  world,  was 
the  publication  of  the  first  complete  printed  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament  in  1516.  In  Basel,  too,  in  those  stirring 
early  years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Thomas  Wyttenbach 
taught,  and  Zwingli,  Leo  Jud,  Pellican,  Glarean,  Capito, 
Grynaeus,and  other  scholars  noted  in  Reformation  history, 
spent  busy  and  fruitful  school  days.  Thus  at  Basel,  along 
with  the  usual  hindrances,  were  various  lines  of  influ- 
ence that  might  be  gathered  and  used  for  the  Reforma- 
tion if  the  right  man  came  on  the  scene  as  leader.  And 
he  did,  in  the  person  of  John  CEcolampadius  (1482-1531). 

In  the  little  town  of  Weinsberg,  in  the  present  King- 
dom of  Wiirttemberg,  lived  a  good  and  respectable  citizen 
and  merchant  named  Hiissgen,  some  say  Hausschein.  To 
him  and  his  pious  and  sensible  wife  sons  were  born,  but 
only  one  survived.  The  boy  received  in  baptism  the  name 
of  John,  but  in  after  days,  according  to  the  absurd  hu- 
manistic fashion  then  so  affected,  translated  or  perverted 
his  German  family  name  into  the  high-sounding  Greek 
CEcolampadius,  by  which  he  is  known  in  history.1 

Born  in  1482,  he  was  nearly  a  year  older  than  Luther, 
who  was  about  two  months  older  than  Zwingli.  The 
delicate  but  precocious  and  promising  boy  owed  it  to  the 
influence  of  his  pious  and  intelligent  mother  that,  in- 
stead of  being  brought  up  to  his  father's  business,  he  re- 
1  Life  by  Hagenbach,  in  Valer  und  Griinder,  u.  s.  w. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          417 

ceived  a  scholar's  education.  After  early  instruction  at 
home,  John  had  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  school  at 
Heilbronn,  and  later  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg. 
The  vigorous  mind  of  CEcolampadius  ranged  beyond  his 
required  studies,  and  he  read  widely  in  the  church  fathers 
and  other  writers.  Still  thirsting  for  knowledge  and 
further  preparation  before  becoming  a  priest  and  preacher, 
he  went  for  a  time  to  the  University  of  Tubingen,  where, 
among  others,  he  found  a  congenial  friend  in  the  much 
younger  but  already  remarkable  scholar,  Philip  Melanch- 
thon.  Reuchlin  was  then  in  Stuttgart,  not  far  away,  and 
CEcolampadius  took  a  course  in  Hebrew  with  that  famous 
teacher,  and  pursued  the  study  further  at  Tubingen,  along 
with  Capito  and  John  Brentz,  under  a  converted  Jew. 

In  accordance  with  a  custom  then  sometimes  permitted 
there  had  been  founded  for  CEcolampadius  by  the  liberal- 
ity of  his  parents  a  chapel,  or  preaching  place,  in  his  na- 
tive village,  and  before  going  to  Tubingen  he  seems  to 
have  spent  a  few  months  there.  Now  he  returns  to  this 
his  first  charge  and  takes  up  his  work  more  regularly. 
He  made  preaching  the  first  thing,  and  while  his  sermons 
yet  retained  many  of  the  Catholic  habits  and  methods, 
they  were  both  more  evangelical  and  more  expository 
than  the  old  sort,  and  they  made  a  great  impression  on 
his  people.  His  first  publication  was  a  series  of  sermons 
on  the  seven  last  sayings  of  our  Lord  on  the  cross. 

Between  the  time  of  this  first  work  as  preacher  at 
Weinsberg  and  his  final  settlement  at  Basel  for  the  work 
of  his  life  CEcolampadius  had  a  strangely  checkered 
career.  Interesting  as  the  details  are  in  themselves  and 
significant  in  his  preparations  for  becoming  the  chief  re- 
former at  Basel,  they  cannot  here  be  discussed  at  any 
length.  We  find  him  for  a  short  time  at  Basel,  then  at 
Augsburg,  then,  strangely  enough,  for  a  few  months 
in  a  monastery ;  then  a  little  while  chaplain  to  the  reform- 
ing knight,  Francis  of  Sickingen.  Here  he  made  pro- 
gress in  reforming  principles  and  introduced  some 
changes  in  worship. 

But  soon  CEcolampadius  gave  up  this  place  also  and 
accepted  an  invitation  from  his  friend  Kratander,  the 
publisher  at  Basel,  to  pay  a  visit  of  indefinite  duration  at 
his  house  and  wait  till  a  professorship  or  some  place  suit- 


41 8  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

able  for  him  should  open.  It  was  under  these  circum- 
stances that  he  took  up  what  was  to  be  his  lifelong  resi- 
dence in  Basel,  Nov.  i/th,  1522. 

In  a  few  weeks,  the  pastor  of  St.  Martin's  church  being 
in  poor  health,  a  place  as  vicar  was  offered  GEcolampa- 
dius  there ;  and  he  began  his  fruitful  ministry  in  that 
church.  At  first  his  duties  were  not  very  arduous,  and  he 
had  time  for  his  much  loved  studies.  About  this  time, 
without  personal  acquaintance,  he  began  a  correspondence 
with  Zwingli.  He  also  corresponded  with  other  reform- 
ers. Besides  his  expository  and  increasingly  evangelical 
sermons  at  St.  Martin's,  CEcolampadius  began  to  give — 
presumably  at  the  university,  though  by  what  arrange- 
ment does  not  appear — a  course  of  lectures,  expounding, 
first,  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  and  then  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  These,  as  well  as  his  more  popular  sermons  on 
the  first  Epistle  of  John,  were  afterwards  published,  and 
gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  friends  of  the  Reformation 
in  many  quarters.  Though  CEcolampadius  was  doubtful 
of  the  value  of  public  debates,  and  deprecated  their  evils, 
he  yet  was  led  to  propose  a  public  discussion  of  four 
propositions  on  the  questions  of  the  age.  The  discussion 
occurred  in  August,  1523,  in  the  college  chapel,  was  well 
attended,  and  produced  good  results. 

Later  came  William  Farel,  the  hot-headed,  but  elo- 
quent, French  reformer.  He  was  welcomed  by  CEcolam- 
padius and  encouraged  to  hold  a  public  discussion,  which 
was  attended  with  interest  and  did  good.  But  CEcolam- 
padius did  not  really  care  much  for  these  public  debates. 
His  main  work  was  preaching,  and  in  this  he  was  not 
only  eminently  successful  in  drawing  the  people,  but  in 
greatly  instructing  and  profoundly  moving  them.  He 
began  to  preach  on  week  days  as  well  as  Sundays,  and 
the  people  came  in  eager  and  large  congregations.  Thus 
the  seeds  of  evangelical  views  of  truth  were  richly  sown 
in  the  hearts  of  many  of  the  best  and  most  influential 
people  of  the  city,  and  the  results  were  soon  seen  in  many 
ways.  The  secular  authorities  of  the  city,  as  at  Zurich 
and  Bern,  began  to  take  action  favoring  the  Reformation. 
One  of  their  first  acts  (in  1525)  was  to  give  CEcolampa- 
dius the  position  of  leading  preacher  at  St.  Martin's,  for 
up  to  this  time  he  had  still  been  only  vicar.  This  in- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          419 

creased  his  dignity  and  influence,  but  it  also  added  to  his 
labors  and  cares. 

From  now  on  for  four  years  the  reformation  in  Basel 
proceeded  in  rapid  order  till,  early  in  1529,  the  doing 
away  of  the  mass  and  the  images  in  the  churches  marked 
its  final  establishment.  During  these  years  of  strife  and 
progress  CEcolampadius  was  a  busy  and  laborious  man, 
but  he  stood  his  ground  and  did  his  work  nobly. 

The  few  remaining  years  of  his  life  were  abundantly 
occupied  in  preaching,  writing,  confirming  the  Reforma- 
tion at  home  and  lending  wise  counsel  and  good  influence 
to  the  cause  elsewhere.  The  catastrophe  at  Cappel  was 
a  shock  from  which  CEcolampadius  never  recovered.  His 
own  end  was  near.  An  illness  that  proved  to  be  fatal 
attacked  his  always  feeble  and  much  overwrought  frame, 
and  in  November,  1531,  he  joined  his  fellow- worker  and 
friend  where  strifes  are  no  more.  And  so  they  went — 
those  two  great  brave  souls — one  from  the  battlefield, 
calm  and  ready  amid  strife,  carnage  and  defeat ;  the  other 
from  the  Christian's  dying  bed,  hopeful,  victorious,  and  in 
perfect  peace. 

CEcolampadius  was  an  active  and  successful  preacher, 
without  the  highest  oratorical  genius.  He  had  no  im- 
pressive external  gifts,  being  small  and  feeble  of  frame, 
and  having  a  weak  though  not  unpleasant  voice.  But 
his  vigorous  intelligence,  sincerity  and  depth  of  feeling, 
ample  learning,  aptness  and  power  in  exposition,  clear- 
ness and  ease  of  expression,  more  than  made  up  for  lack 
of  the  externals.  So  we  do  not  wonder,  when  we  read  his 
sermons,  and  remember  the  traits  of  his  character  and  the 
facts  of  his  life,  that  he  should  have  attracted  and  held 
large  and  eager  congregations,  and  should  have  accom- 
plished the  work  he  was  set  to  do  chiefly  by  the  ministry 
of  the  Word. 

The  successor  of  CEcolampadius  at  Basel  was  Zwingli's 
warm  friend,  the  eminent  teacher  Oswald  Myconius  * 
(1488-1552).  Born  at  Lucerne  in  1488,  the  son  of  a 
miller  named  Geisshussler,  he  later  acquired  in  some  way 
the  Greek  name  of  Myconius — probably  a  nickname  given 
to  him  by  Erasmus.  With  others,  eager  like  himself  for 
learning,  he  studied  and  then  became  a  teacher  at  Basel, 
1  Hagenbach  again  in  the  series  last  mentioned. 


420  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

where,  also,  he  married.  While  at  Basel  he  was  on  in- 
timate terms  with  Erasmus,  and  there,  too,  he  met 
Zwingli  and  Leo  Jud.  In  1516  he  came  to  Zurich  to 
teach  in  the  school  connected  with  the  Grossmiinster,  and 
while  there  deepened  his  friendship  with  Zwingli,  who 
was  then  at  Einsiedeln.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in 
having  Zwingli  come  to  Zurich;  but  did  not  himself  re- 
main long  there,  having  accepted  an  invitation  to  return 
to  his  native  Lucerne  and  teach.  He  espoused  warmly 
the  reformatory  views,  which  were  unpopular  at  Lucerne, 
and  was  called  a  "  Lutheran  heretic."  At  last  the  people 
became  so  enraged  against  him  that  he  had  to  leave,  and 
Leo  Jud  secured  a  temporary  place  for  him  at  Einsiedeln, 
in  1522.  As  soon  as  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  school  at 
Frauenmunster,  in  Zurich,  his  friends  there  secured  it 
for  him.  It  was  truly  a  comfort  to  Zwingli  to  have  the 
two  tried  friends — Jud  and  Myconius — with  him  in  Zu- 
rich, one  as  preacher  at  St.  Peter's,  the  other  as  teacher 
at  the  Frauenmunster.  Here  Myconius  remained  till 
Zwingli's  death.  He  had  in  his  home  an  admiring  pupil, 
who  relates  that  when  Myconius  heard  the  news  of 
Zwingli's  death,  he  said,  "  I  can  no  longer  stay  here !  " 
While  not  an  ordained  preacher,  he  had,  at  the  request 
of  the  council,  combined  oral  Scripture  exposition,  which 
was  really  preaching,  with  his  work  as  teacher,  and  thus 
gradually  took  up  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  His  pupil 
and  young  friend,  Plater,  having  gone  to  Basel  to  teach, 
and  knowing  of  Myconius'  desire  to  leave  Zurich,  spoke 
of  his  old  teacher  so  warmly  to  friends  that  he  was  au- 
thorized to  go  back  to  Zurich  and  conduct  Myconius  to 
Basel,  where  he  could  visit  and  preach  at  the  church  of 
St.  Albans,  where  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  pulpit.  His 
trial  sermon  was  so  pronounced  a  success  that  he  was 
called  to  the  post  in  December,  1531.  When  he  began  his 
work  at  St.  Albans,  Basel  was  mourning  the  recent  death 
of  CEcolampadius,  and  the  council  was  much  exercised 
to  find  a  suitable  follower  to  that  remarkable  and  beloved 
man  and  leader.  But  Myconius'  success  at  St.  Albans 
was  so  immediate  and  decided  that  after  a  few  months 
the  council  decided  to  promote  him  to  the  cathedral  as  the 
successor  to  the  recently  deceased  leader. 

No  one  was  more  surprised  at  this  turn  of  affairs  than 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          421 

the  modest  Myconius  himself.  He  thus  wrote  of  it  to  a 
friend :  "I  am  named  as  successor  to  the  sainted  GEco- 
lampadius.  Great  God,  what  disparity!  But  God  has  so 
ordained.  .  .  .  Unexpected  and  strange  is  it  all  to 
me.  Earnestly  do  I  pray  God  that  sooner  he  would  re- 
move me  from  the  earth  than  that  his  glory  should  be 
lessened  by  my  induction  into  office."  In  such  a  spirit 
the  mild-mannered  teacher  entered  on  his  new  and  re- 
sponsible position,  but  on  the  express  understanding  that 
he  should  hold  the  place  only  till  a  more  suitable  person 
could  be  found.  None  was  found.  He  held  the  place 
twenty  years,  till  his  death  in  1552. 

Myconius  was  a  fine  teacher  and  an  able  expounder  of 
the  Word  of  God.  His  preaching  was  simple,  clear  and 
eminently  Scriptural  in  matter  and  tone.  He  was  not 
fond  of  display  nor  endowed  with  oratorical  gifts,  but  he 
was  heard  with  great  acceptance  and  profit,  for  he 
preached  with  force  and  unction.  One  thing  he  says 
of  his  preaching  will  doubtless  be  well  understood  by 
many  another  faithful  preacher :  "I  have  been  preaching 
the  gospel  ten  years,  and  yet  I  cannot  say  that  in  attack- 
ing sin  I  am  satisfied  with  myself.  Sometimes  I  go  be- 
yond bounds,  sometimes  I  do  too  little.  I  dare  not  be 
silent,  and  yet  I  cannot  strike  the  right  measure,  which 
often  not  a  little  disturbs  me."  Faithful  soul !  perplexed 
to  find  the  just  combination  of  the  pastor's  and  the  proph- 
et's functions !  Yet  this  modest,  amiable,  faithful  man 
preached  in  what  was  virtually  his  only  charge  for  twenty 
years,  carried  on  the  work  of  a  greater  man  than  him- 
self, and  exerted  a  wide  and  lasting  influence  for  the 
cause  he  so  much  loved. 

The  city  of  Bern,  now  the  capital  of  the  Swiss  Federa- 
tion, lies  in  a  beautiful  situation  in  the  heart  of  pictur- 
esque Switzerland.  Founded  by  the  Duke  of  Zahringen 
in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  it  was  not  so  old  as 
some  other  Swiss  cities,  but  was  from  the  first  character- 
ized by  the  bravery  and  independence  of  its  people.  It 
joined  the  Swiss  Federation  in  1353,  having  previously 
won  its  independence,  and  at  once  assumed  and  ever  held 
a  leading  place  in  the  affairs  of  the  republic.  Like  other 
cities  Bern  had,  through  its  council,  considerable  influ- 
ence and  control  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  But  here,  as 


422  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

elsewhere,  the  sad  demoralization  of  the  people  through 
the  practice  of  mercenary  warfare,  and  of  the  clergy 
through  the  evils  so  common  everywhere,  made  the  re- 
ligious outlook  discouraging  in  the  extreme.  There  was 
not  so  much  culture  as  in  other  places,  and  the  super- 
stition of  many  of  the  people  made  them  easy  victims  of 
the  indulgence-seller  Samson,  who  rivalled  Tetzel  in 
Saxony.  Yet  there  were  not  wanting  among  the  people 
and  in  the  council  men  who  were  heartily  ashamed  of  the 
evil  state  of  affairs,  and  were  willing  to  be  led  in  a  better 
way  when  the  time  and  the  leader  appointed  of  God 
should  arrive.  The  time  was  the  great  reform  movement 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  leader  Berthold  Haller.1 

In  the  memorable  year  of  1492  the  future  Bernese  re- 
former was  born  in  the  Swabian  village  of  Aldingen. 
The  lad  was  of  delicate  constitution,  but  of  quick  intelli- 
gence and  amiable  character.  He  had  an  excellent  teacher 
at  Rottweil,  and  later  studied  at  Pforzheim  under  Gerard 
Simler,  afterwards  professor  at  Tubingen.  Among  his 
schoolmates  was  Simon  Grynaeus,  later  the  noted  human- 
istic teacher  at  Basel,  and  the  young  Philip  Melanchthon. 
Haller  then  spent  two  years  at  Cologne  studying  the  dry 
bones  of  the  degenerate  scholastic  theology,  which  no 
more  satisfied  him  than  it  had  CEcolampadius  before  him. 
He  longed  for  further  and  more  extensive  studies,  but 
accepted  a  place  for  a  while  as  teacher  at  Rottweil,  and 
was  just  about  to  go  to  Freiburg  for  further  education 
when,  in  1513,  a  call  came  to  go  to  Bern  as  assistant 
teacher  in  a  flourishing  school.  He  knew  not  what  was 
before  him  when  he  accepted  this  place  and  took  up  his 
residence  as  teacher,  with  apparently  some  preaching  du- 
ties attached  to  his  office,  in  the  city  that  he  was  so  pro- 
foundly to  influence  for  all  time. 

Haller  quickly  made  /riends  by  his  kindly  sociable 
nature,  having  attracted  notice  by  his  eloquence  and  force 
of  speech.  He  was  elected  chaplain  of  one  of  the  guilds 
of  citizens,  and  from  1517  held  some  official  position  in 
the  church.  His  duties  were  varied  and  exacting  from 
the  start,  and  he  never  had  the  leisure  for  those  studies 
that  he  so  longed  to  pursue.  He  never  became  so  great 
a  scholar  as  many  of  the  other  reformers,  and  regretted 

*Life  by  Pestalozzi  in  Vater  und  Grtinder,  u.  s.  w. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         423 

often  the  course  of  affairs  that  hindered  his  development 
in  that  direction.  He  was  early  attracted  by  the  evan- 
gelical views,  and  his  devotion  to  these  was  largely  stimu- 
lated and  confirmed  by  the  presence  at  this  time  in  Bern 
as  canon  and  preacher  at  the  Miinster  of  that  very 
Thomas  Wyttenbach  who  at  Basel  had  so  profoundly 
influenced  Zwingli  and  Leo  Jud.  Haller  served  as  dea- 
con under  Wyttenbach,  and  lived  with  him  till  his  retire- 
ment from  Bern  in  1520.  Already  in  the  preceding  year 
a  decisive  turn  had  come  in  Haller's  life  by  his  appoint- 
ment as  canon  and  one  of  the  chief  preachers  at  the 
Miinster.  His  place  had  come  to  him,  and  he  was  ready 
for  his  work. 

Haller  began  at  the  great  cathedral — a  very  imposing 
building  still — in  a  very  simple  way.  He  took  the  ap- 
pointed lessons  as  the  basis  of  his  sermons  and  expounded 
these  carefully  and  with  decided  evangelical  views.  Later 
he  added  a  series  of  discourses  on  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, using  Luther's  exposition  as  a  guide.  His  preach- 
ing was  popular,  and  his  congregations  grew  large  and 
remained  so.  In  1521  he  visited  Zwingli  at  Zurich  and 
received  hearty  commendation  and  help  in  his  work.  The 
friendship  was  warm  and  lasting,  and  there  was  frequent 
correspondence  between  the  two  till  Zwingli's  death. 
About  this  time  the  eloquent  French  Franciscan,  Lam- 
bert, came  to  Bern  on  his  way  to  Germany  on  a  preach- 
ing tour.  Though  yet  a  monk  Lambert  was  full  of  re- 
formation ideas.  Not  knowing  German,  he  preached  in 
Latin  to  the  priests  and  others,  and  his  attacks  on  exist- 
ing evils  made  a  great  stir.  Some  of  the  clergy  were  fu- 
rious and  tried  to  have  the  council  restrain  the  fiery 
Frenchman.  But  that  body,  on  the  contrary,  upheld  him, 
and  took  occasion  to  declare  in  favor  of  a  larger  liberty  ,to 
the  preachers. 

Soon  Haller  began  a  series  of  expository  sermons  on 
Matthew,  influenced  no  doubt  by  Zwingli's  experiment 
at  Zurich,  and  his  preaching  was  even  more  sought  after 
by  the  people  who  were  thirsting  for  the  gospel  truth,  and 
his  earnest  teaching  was  having  great  influence.  In  1523 
the  Bern  council  passed  an  ordinance  similar  to  that  of 
Zurich,  instructing  the  preachers  to  preach  the  "  pure 
Word  of  God  freely,  openly  and  without  restraint."  With 


424  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

this  good  beginning  the  government  became  more  and 
more  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  new  order  of  things; 
and  progress,  not  without  friction,  setbacks,  and  various 
trials,  was  continually  made.  The  Anabaptist  controversy 
also  made  its  appearance  at  Bern,  and  caused  much  trial 
to  Haller  and  the  rest.  In-  1527  the  Bernese  council 
called  for  a  great  conference  and  debate  on  all  the  ques- 
tions between  the  Catholic  and  Reforming  parties.  It 
began  in  January,  1528,  and  lasted  for  nineteen  days. 
Zwingli  was  present,  also  GEcolampadius,  Bullinger,  But- 
zer,  Farel,  and  other  leading  reformers,  besides  a  fair 
representation  of  Catholics.  It  was  a  triumph  for  Re- 
formed opinions  and  greatly  strengthened  the  cause 
throughout  all  Switzerland  and  beyond.  Before  the  dis- 
putants had  left  the  council  took  action  and  did  away 
with  the  mass  and  the  images  in  the  churches.  This 
marked  the  victory. 

It  now  remained  for  Haller  and  his  associates  to  settle 
and  organize  the  new  ecclesiastical  constitution  and  con- 
firm what  had  been  done.  The  death  of  Zwingli  and  the 
peril  that  followed  the  defeat  at  Cappel  were  serious 
wounds  to  the  cause;  but  the  work  went  on.  Haller's 
long  and  hard  labors  had  worn  him  down;  he  fe'll  an 
easy  prey  to  disease,  and  passed  to  his  reward  in  1536, 
only  forty-four  years  old.  As  a  scholar  he  does  not  rank 
as  high  as  the  other  leaders  in  the  Reformation,  but  in 
fidelity  and  wisdom,  in  moderation  combined  with  cour- 
age and  patience,  he  falls  behind  none.  His  preaching 
bore  the  character  marks  of  the  reform  movement  in 
contents  and  method ;  in  style  it  was  simple  and  unambi- 
tious, but  clear,  forcible  and  winning.  Its  best  praise  is 
that  it  pleased,  instructed  and  moulded  the  people  to 
whom  it  was  directed. 

6.    THE  STRASBURG  REFORMERS 

This  seems  the  best  place  to  consider  the  preachers  of 
the  Reformation  at  Strasburg,  for  though  it  was  a  Ger- 
man and  not  a  Swiss  city,  the  leaders  there  occupied  a 
mediating  position  between  the  Lutheran  and  Zwinghan 
views,  and,  on  the  whole,  inclined  more  to  the  latter. 

Strasburg  was  one  of  the  ancient  free  cities  of  the 
German  empire.  It  had  acquired  self-government  in 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          425 

1333,  and  in  1482  had  adopted  a  new  and  very  liberal 
popular  constitution.  Under  this  the  city  government 
had  secured  a  very  large  control  in  ecclesiastical  as  well 
as  civil  affairs,  and  had  so  limited  the  authority  of  the 
bishop  and  reduced  his  importance  that  he  preferred  to 
live  elsewhere  and  be  represented  at  Strasburg  by  a 
vicar.  The  state  of  the  clergy  was  bad,  as  usual.  But 
among  the  best  citizens  were  not  a  few  who  detested  the 
existing  state  of  things  and  were  ready  for  a  change. 
Perhaps  the  influence  of  that  old  mediaeval  mysticism 
and  the  work  of  Tauler  were  not  wholly  gone,  and  cer- 
tainly the  long  and  powerful  ministry  (1478-1510)  of 
John  Geiler  of  Kaisersberg  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
many  when  the  Reformation  began.  We  must  also 
reckon  among  preparatory  tendencies  the  entrance  of 
Humanism  under  the  auspices  of  Erasmus,  Wimpheling 
and  others.  So  when  Luther  began  his  attack  on  the  pa- 
pal abuses  in  1517  there  were  many  in  Strasburg  who 
hailed  his  bold  strokes  as  the  beginning  of  a  real  and 
long-hoped-for  reform.  Among  these  was  a  preacher 
and  priest  named  Matthew  Zell,  who  was  already  doing 
some  effective  reformatory  preaching  when,  in  1523,  the 
two  men  came  who  were  to  be  the  leaders  in  establishing 
the  Reformation  in  Strasburg;  these  were  Wolfgang 
Capito  and  Martin  Bucer,  or  Butzer.1 

At  the  then  somewhat  considerable  town  of  Hague- 
nau,  in  Alsace,  there  lived  toward  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  a  German  family  named  Kopfel,  signifying  "  lit- 
tle head."  Among  the  sons  of  the  family,  born  in  1478, 
was  one  who  received  the  name  of  Wolfgang  and  after- 
ward Latinized  his  surname  into  Capito.  In  after  years 
he  remembered  to  have  heard  as  a  lad  considerable  talk 
of  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague ;  of  good  John  of  Wes- 
sel,  who  had  been  imprisoned  and  died  in  jail  because  at 
Augsburg  he  had  dared  to  preach  that  the  Bible  was 
above  the  pope ;  and  of  the  great  "  Dr.  Kaisersberg,"  as 
Geiler  was  familiarly  called,  who  was  preaching  with 
such  power  at  Strasburg.  The  eager  and  intelligent 
boy  was  educated  with  a  view  to  medicine  as  a  profes- 

1  An  admirable  double  biography  is  that  of  W.  Baum  in  the 
V  ater  und  Gr under  series  ;  and  a  well  written  article  based  on  this 
work  is  found  in  the  (English)  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.,  on  account  of 
Butzer's  work  in  England. 


426  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

sion,  and  after  preliminary  schooling  got  his  degree  in 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Freiburg.  But  his  heart 
was  not  in  that  branch  of  study;  and  his  father's  death 
soon  after  he  received  his  degree  made  him  feel  the  im- 
potence of  his  profession,  and  also  left  him  free  to  leave 
it.  As  he  had  means  to  pursue  his  studies  where  and  as 
he  liked,  he  turned  to  law,  and  then  theology,  studying 
at  Freiburg,  Basel,  and  Ingolstadt,  as  suited  his  pleasure. 
Thus  he  was  graduated  in  the  three  departments  of 
medicine,  law,  and  theology,  taking  his  degree  in  the  last 
from  Ingolstadt.  Besides  the  regular  course  he  read 
widely,  and  became  one  of  the  most  accomplished  schol- 
ars of  his  age,  being  a  peer  in  that  brilliant  coterie  of 
Humanists  that  centered  in  Basel  around  Erasmus.  He 
was  made,  in  the  fall  of  1511,  dean  of  the  faculty  of 
liberal  arts  at  Freiburg  and  licentiate — that  is,  lecturer — 
in  theology.  But  he  desired  to  preach,  and  was  glad  to 
accept  a  call  to  Bruchsal,  an  inconsiderable  pastorate  in 
the  diocese  of  Spires,  where  he  spent  several  years. 

Capito's  next  appointment  was  much  more  to  his  taste 
— in  1515  he  was  made  one  of  the  cathedral  preachers  at 
Basel.  Here  for  some  years  he  labored  with  much  suc- 
cess, preaching  with  great  acceptance  and  growing  all 
the  time  in  evangelical  convictions.  He  was  one  of  those 
men  whom  insight,  breadth  and  charity  prevent  from 
being  partisans ;  who  can  always  see  both  sides  of  a  quar- 
rel and  have  sympathy  for  whatever  is  good  in  both.  This 
amiable  characteristic  often  gives  rise  to  suspicions  of  in- 
sincerity, wavering,  and  doubleness.  But  Capito  was  not 
open  to  such  charges.  He  agreed  with  Luther,  but  dis- 
liked his  coarseness ;  he  did  not  hold  with  Erasmus,  but 
he  admired  his  good  points  and  valued  his  friendship. 
Hence  he  tried  in  vain  to  hinder  or  heal  the  breach  be- 
tween these  men,  and  to  some  extent  suffered  in  the  esti- 
mation of  both.  He  did  not  believe  in  rash  revolutionary 
measures,  but  favored  the  progress  of  reformation  prin- 
ciples by  the  slower  method  of  indoctrination  and  influ- 
ence. The  strifes  at  Basel  became  too  fierce  for  his  peace- 
ful nature,  and  he  was  glad  to  accept  a  position — not  a 
very  well  defined  one — as  preacher  and  secretary  to  that 
curious  jumble  of  politician  and  ecclesiastic,  petty  prince 
and  electoral  archbishop,  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  at 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         427 

Mainz.  As  counsellor  of  that  dignitary  he  attended  the 
famous  Diet  at  Worms,  in  1521,  where  Luther  made  his 
brave  stand.  More  and  more  Capito  was  satisfied  of  the 
truth  of  the  Reformation  doctrines,  and  his  position  at 
Mainz  was  becoming  intolerable.  It  was  a  welcome  call, 
therefore,  that  came  to  him  from  the  authorities  lat 
Strasburg  in  1523  to  become  chief  preacher  at  the 
church  of  St.  Thomas  in  that  city. 

This  was  a  decisive  point  and  the  opening  of  the  last 
stage  in  Capito's  life.  On  coming  to  Strasburg  he  found 
Matthew  Zell  at  work,  and  later  in  the  same  year  (1523) 
came  Martin  Butzer.  The  three  worked  together  in  great 
harmony,  according  to  their  different  characters ;  and  by 
their  preaching,  the  intelligent  aid  of  the  council,  and 
the  providential  drift  of  the  age,  the  Reformation  was 
finally  established  at  Strasburg  in  1529.  On  February 
20  of  that  year  the  popular  assembly  by  a  vote  of  184  to 
94  ordered  the  discontinuance  of  the  mass  in  the  churches. 
Of  course  there  were  trials  in  all  this  time.  Capito  had 
been  promoted  to  the  pastorate  at  St.  Peter's  Church, 
and  his  congregations  and  influence  had  increased.  He 
felt  the  justice  of  many  of  the  demands  of  the  peasants, 
but  counselled  moderation ;  he  saw  much  that  was  Scrip- 
tural in  the  Anabaptist  contentions,  and  though  deplor- 
ing their  excesses,  he  judged  them  much  less  harshly 
than  did  his  colleagues ;  he  sympathized  with  Zwingli's 
views  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  would  take  no  part  in 
the  Marburg  conference.  He  had  much  to  do  in  draw- 
ing up  the  so-called  Tetrapolitan  Confession — represent- 
ing the  theologians  of  the  four  cities  of  Strasburg,  Lin- 
dau,  Constance  and  Memmingen — which  emphasized  the 
mediating  position  of  the  Strasburg  leaders.  In  1541 
the  plague  visited  the  city,  and  among  its  numerous  vic- 
tims was  the  venerable  and  beloved  Capito. 

Enough  has  been  said  of  his  great  learning,  his  notable 
moderation  and  breadth  of  sympathy.  As  a  preacher  he 
was  not  preeminent,  but  Scriptural,  clear,  winsome.  His 
scholarly  expositions,  earnestness  of  feeling,  and  ac- 
ceptability of  manner,  drew  always  good  congregations, 
who  loved  to  wait  on  his  ministry ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
others  who  stand  in  the  second  rank  as  preachers,  the 
best  witness  to  the  power  of  his  preaching  is  not  the  tra- 


428  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

dition  of  remarkable  eloquence,  but  the  enduring  good 
accomplished. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  characters  in  the  history 
of  the  Reformation  was  Capito's  colleague  at  Strasburg, 
Martin  Butzer,  or  Bucer,  as  the  name  is  more  commonly 
but  less  correctly  written.  His  father,  a  well  esteemed 
man,  was  a  cooper  by  trade,  and  lived  first  at  Schlestadt, 
where  Martin  was  born,  in  1491,  and  later  removed  to 
Strasburg,  where  he  became  in  time  a  respected  member 
of  the  council.  The  story  of  Martin  Butzer's  life  and 
work  is  full  of  vicissitudes  and  interest,  but  as  he  was 
more  of  a  theologian  and  lecturer  than  preacher,  he  can 
claim  only  summary  notice  here.  For  the  sake  of  educa- 
tion he  joined  the  Dominicans,  and  for  a  while,  in  their 
monastery  at  Heidelberg,  enjoyed  university  privileges. 
Released  from  his  vows  at  last  because  of  growing  re- 
formatory principles,  he  held  an  assistant's  place  in  a 
church  at  Weissenberg.  Like  a  true  reformer,  he  had 
defied  the  law  of  celibacy  and  married  an  excellent  wife. 
His  reform  preaching  aroused  opposition,  and  both  he 
and  his  superior  were  driven  out  of  Weissenberg. 

It  was  thus  that  Martin  Butzer,  in  the  early  spring  of 
1523,  came  to  his  father's  house  in  Strasburg,  homeless, 
without  means,  with  a  young  wife,  soon  to  be  a  mother, 
and  accompanied  by  a  friend  similarly  situated. 

Capito  and  Zell  welcomed  Butzer  as  an  able  recruit 
in  their  reforming  campaign,  but  though  many  in  Stras- 
burg sympathized  with  the  new  views,  and  the  authori- 
ties were  leaning  that  way,  it  still  was  not  so  easy  to  find 
a  place  for  a  married  priest.  People  had  not  yet  become 
accustomed  to  that  part  of  the  reform!  Still  the  son  of 
good  citizen  Butzer  was  not  to  be  discredited,  and  the 
friend  of  Capito  could  not  be  ignored.  Soon  some  place 
was  found  for  him  to  teach,  expound  the  Scriptures,  and 
thus  really  preach ;  and  later,  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
university,  he  was  appointed  a  professor,  and  with  the 
progress  of  the  reformation  there  came  to  him  full  recog- 
nition as  preacher  and  places  to  preach  with  authority. 

The  main  significance  of  Martin  Butzer  in  the  history 
of  the  Reformation  lies  in  the  laborious,  earnest,  faith- 
ful, but  ineffectual,  efforts  he  made  to  harmonize  the 
Lutheran  and  Zwinglian  parties  in  their  unhappy  division 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         429 

over  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  was  the  problem  and  the 
effort  of  his  life,  and  it  brought  him  much  trial  and  little 
success.  His  realization  of  the  beatitude  of  the  peace- 
makers was  reserved  for  the  heavenly  life. 

When  the  result  of  the  Smalcald  War  left  Charles  V. 
free  to  oppress  the  Protestants,  Butzer  opposed  with  all 
earnestness  the  emperor's  so-called  Interim,  or  effort  to 
enforce  a  religious  truce  by  compromise.  But  Strasburg 
was  made  to  accept  the  Interim,  and  Butzer  in  1548  left 
the  city  and  country.  At  that  time,  under  Edward  VI. 
and  Cranmer,  Protestantism  was  in  the  ascendant  in 
England,  and  by  Cranmer's  influence  Butzer  was  offered 
a  professorship  of  theology  at  Cambridge.  He  was  glad 
to  accept  the  place,  and  so  ended  his  interesting  and  use- 
ful life  as  professor  in  one  of  England's  great  universi- 
ties. He  was  diligent  in  lecturing  and  writing  while  at 
Cambridge,  but  his  failing  health  hindered  and  shortened 
his  activity,  and  in  1551  he  died.  It  is  shameful  that 
under  Bloody  Mary  his  body  was  disinterred  and  burned ; 
but  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  honor  was  done  to  his  mem- 
ory. 

Butzer  had  ample  scholarship,  and  held  his  own  with 
the  lights  of  his  time  in  theological  learning.  He  left 
numerous  writings  on  many  subjects,  mostly  in  Latin. 
His  style  was  diffuse  and  obscure,  so  much  so  that  Calvin 
once  said  in  speaking  of  some  writing  of  a  like  mind, 
"  Butzer  himself  has  nothing  so  obscure,  ambiguous, 
tortuous."  Of  his  sermons,  strictly  speaking,  there  seem 
to  be  no  important  remains.  If  his  spoken  discourse 
was  like  his  writing  he  must  have  been  hard  to  follow; 
but  he  had  a  good  voice  and  presence,  and  his  long  and 
successful  service  in  the  pulpit  shows  that,  notwith- 
standing faults  of  style,  and  some  lack  of  clearness  in 
thought,  he  must  have  been  more  than  an  ordinary 
preacher. 

We  must  not  forget  that  besides  these  great  leaders 
who  have  been  singled  out  for  notice,  there  were  a  great 
many  others,  more  or  less  known,  who  caught  the  spirit 
and  methods  of  these  and  exemplified  the  peculiar  type 
of  Reformation  preaching  all  over  German  Switzerland. 
Some  would  be  well  worthy  of  study,  both  for  their  char- 
acters and  methods ;  but  those  whom  we  have  had  under 


43°  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

review  are  enough  to  indicate  both  the  general  course 
of  the  Swiss  Reformation  and  the  kind  of  preaching 
which  characterized  it.  Nor  must  we  forget  the  Ana- 
baptists, for  whom  the  gentle  Capito  had  a  kindly  feel- 
ing, the  other  leaders  only  opposition  and  persecution ; 
but  it  seems  best  to  tell  what  little  is  known  of  them  and 
their  preaching  in  connection  with  their  brethren  in  other 
countries. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

PREACHERS  OF  THE  REFORMATION  IN  FRANCE  AND  OTHER 
EUROPEAN  LANDS 

It  was  an  unhappy  thing  for  France  that  the  character 
of  her  monarch  and  the  condition  of  her  affairs  in  the 
early  sixteenth  century  forced  into  exile  or  obscurity 
or  subserviency  the  men  who  would  have  been  her  re- 
formers. To  those  who  were  too  great  to  be  obscure  and 
too  true  to  be  subservient  exile  was  the  only  resource, 
and  hence  the  center  of  French  reform  is  not  Paris  or 
Lyons,  but  Geneva.  Yet  the  beginnings  were  in  France. 

i.    THE  PARTIAL  AND  EARLY  REFORMERS 

As  in  other  lands,  the  movement  started  in  France 
among  the  churchmen  with  no  thought  of  separation, 
but  of  purification  in  both  doctrine  and  morals.  And 
though  many  of  those  who  started  the  movement  re- 
mained still  in  the  old  church,  they  are  worthy  of  re- 
membrance for  what  they  began  and  left  to  more  con- 
sistent men  to  carry  on..  Several  of  these  deserve  notice. 

Jacques  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  or  Jacobus  Faber  Stapu- 
lensis,  in  the  Latin  form  of  his  name,  was  not  a  preacher, 
but  an  eminent  humanist  scholar,  and  the  beloved  and  in- 
fluential teacher  of  many  preachers.  He  was  a  man  re- 
markable for  sweetness  of  character,  and  for  all  sorts 
of  learning.  When  he  gave  his  attention  to  Biblical 
and  theological  subjects  he  touched  them  with  the  hand 
of  a  master.  His  views  were  decidedly  in  the  direction 
of  reform,  but,  like  Erasmus — though  very  unlike  him 
in  many  respects — he  stopped  short  when  it  came  to 
leaving  the  Catholic  church.  William  Briqonnet,  bishop 
of  Meaux,  and  by  special  permission  also  abbot  of  St. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          431 

Germain  des  Pres  at  Paris,  was  a  pupil  of  Le  Fevre,  and 
at  one  time  had  decided  leanings  toward  reform,  though 
he,  too,  naturally  drew  back  when  separation  from  the 
Catholic  church  became  a  logical  necessity.  When  Bri- 
qonnet  became  abbot  of  St.  Germain  des  Pres  in  1507 
he  gave  Le  Fevre  an  appointment  as  teacher  in  his  abbey, 
and  here  for  a  number  of  years  the  pious  scholar  taught 
the  Scriptures.  He  published  versions  of  the  Bible  and 
a  number  of  long  useful  commentaries,  and  he  had 
among  his  pupils  at  different  times  both  Farel  and  Cal- 
vin, besides  a  number  of  others  who  in  one  way  or  an- 
other took  part  in  the  religious  movements  of  the  age. 
Le  Fevre's  commentaries  show  that  he  taught  a  much 
purer  Christianity  than  the  current  Romanism,  and  it  is 
no  wonder  that  numbers  of  his  pupils  became  Reformers. 
Brigonnet,  too,  after  his  manner,  gave  decided  impulse 
to  the  new  movement,  for  among  other  things  he  encour- 
aged in  his  diocese  of  Meaux  a  number  of  men  to  preach 
and  expound  the  Scriptures  in  the  new  way.  But  this 
work  was  broken  up  when  the  church  authorities  per- 
ceived its  drift,  and  Briqonnet  returned  to  a  closer  con- 
formity to  the  old  religion. 

One  who  came  much  nearer  at  one  time  to  being  an 
active  reformer  than  either  Le  Fevre  or  Brigonnet  was 
Gerard  Roussel  (1480-1550),  who  came  from  near 
Amiens,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Le  Fevre.  He  gave  sympathy 
and  applause  to  Luther's  first  steps  in  beginning  the  Re- 
formation. He  was  one  of  those  who  at  Briqonnet's  in- 
vitation preached  the  evangelical  doctrines  in  his  diocese, 
but  was  required  to  cease  when  the  authorities  withdrew 
the  permission.  In  1525  he  fled  to  Strasburg  to  escape 
arrest,  but  was  recalled  at  the  instance  of  Queen  Mar- 
garet of  Navarre,  the  sister  of  Francis  I.,  who  favored 
the  reformers  and  helped  them  all  she  could.  Later 
Roussel  became  her  confessor,  and  later  still,  through 
her  influence,  was  made  a  bishop.  His  reaction  toward 
the  old  faith  and  virtual  abandonment  of  the  reformed 
cause  afterwards  called  forth  a  strong  letter  from  Calvin 
rebuking  him  for  his  course.  He  was  an  eloquent  and 
forcible  preacher,  and  though  he  did  not  leave  the  Cath- 
olic church  he  was  really  one  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of 
reform  in  France. 


432  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Coming  to  those  who  in  the  early  years  followed  con- 
science and  logic,  and  thus  came  out  of  the  old  estab- 
lishment into  new  and  untried  ways,  we  meet  almost  first 
the  honored  name  of  Francois  Lambert  (d.  1530).  He 
was  born  at  Avignon  in  1486.  At  fifteen  years  of  age 
he  joined  the  Franciscan  order,  and  soon  so  distinguished 
himself  by  his  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  by  his  elo- 
quence that  he  was  made  a  travelling  preacher.  Like 
Luther  he  had  great  spiritual  struggles,  and  even  wished 
to  go  into  a  more  strict  order  of  monks  for  discipline, 
but  this  was  refused  him.  About  1520  he  read  the  early 
writings  of  Luther  and  became  at  once  and  decidedly 
convinced  that  the  reformer  was  right.  He  was  not  a 
man  to  keep  silent,  and  naturally  fell  under  suspicion 
of  heresy.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  it  may  be  at 
his  own  request,  he  was  sent  on  a  preaching  tour  into 
Germany  in  1522.  Going  by  way  of  Geneva  and  Lau- 
sanne, he  came  to  Bern,  where  he  met  Haller,  and  was 
encouraged  by  him  to  hold  a  public  disputation  on  the 
points  involved  in  the  current  controversy.  Thus  he  and 
Haller  gave  each  other  help  and  encouragement,  and 
Lambert  went  on  his  way  strengthened  in  his  views.  At 
Zurich  his  remaining  doubts  were  resolved  and  he  de- 
cisively committed  himself  to  the  Reformation,  though 
this  meant  severance  from  his  order  and  exile  from  his 
native  land.  Perhaps  he  did  not  regret  the  first  of  these 
results,  but  the  second  was  always  a  grief  to  him.  His 
life  henceforth  belongs  to  Germany  rather  than  to  France. 

He  went  to  Wittenberg  in  1523,  and  there  forever 
renounced  Catholicism,  married  and  took  a  course  in  the- 
ology with  Luther,  Melanchthon  and  the  rest.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  now  to  return  to  France,  though  he 
tried  to  get  a  place  at  Metz,  and  then  at  Strasburg,  where 
he  might  be  near  enough  to  help  the  cause  of  his  native 
land.  But  he  failed  to  become  established  at  either  place. 
At  last  he  came  under  the  notice  of  Philip  of  Hesse,  who 
protected  him  and  got  him  to  draw  up  a  plan  of  organi- 
zation for  the  Protestant  churches  in  Hesse.  Though 
his  plan  had  to  be  modified  in  many  particulars  it  was  the 
basis  of  the  Hessian  church  system.  In  1527  he  was 
made  a  professor  in  the  newly  constituted  university  at 
Marburg,  but  did  not  live  long  to  fill  this  place,  being  car- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         433 

ried  oft"  by  the  plague  in  1530.  His  reformatory  views 
were  rather  Zwinglian  than  Lutheran.  He  was  an  elo- 
quent and  impressive  speaker,  after  the  Keltic  type,  and 
was  often  too  vehement  in  action  and  in  word.  But  he 
was  a  true  and  noble  man,  and  would  gladly  have  given 
his  life  to  France  if  he  had  been  permitted. 

2.    FAREL  AND  His  ASSOCIATES 

The  leading  place  among  the  early  French  and  Swiss 
Reformers  belongs  to  Farel  and  the  two  younger  men 
associated  with  him,  Froment  and  Viret.1 

The  leader  of  this  group,  William  Farel  (d.  1565), 
was  born  at  Gap  in  1489.  He  was  one  of  a  large  family, 
early  showed  a  fondness  for  study  and  religion,  and,  after 
making  good  progress  in  the  neighborhood  schools,  he 
was  sent  to  the  University  of  Paris  for  further  study.  But 
the  quality  of  instruction  had  so  declined  in  those  days 
that  the  ardent  mind  of  Farel  was  not  satisfied  by  it,  and 
he  turned  to  Le  Fevre  for  teaching  in  philosophy. 
Le  Fevre,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  also  teaching  the 
Bible  and  theology.  The  study  of  the  Scriptures  under 
that  great  teacher  was  an  increasing  delight  to  the  young 
man,  and  it  led  him  to  see  clearly  that  there  was  a  woful 
difference  between  the  Bible  and  the  doctrines  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Catholic  church.  There  was  the  inevitable 
struggle  between  the  traditional  beliefs  and  his  new- 
found faith.  When  he  laid  his  case  before  Le  Fevre  the 
good  teacher  said,  "  My  friend,  listen  well  to  this :  I  read 
the  signs  of  the  times  and  here  is  my  thought — God  is 
going  to  renew  the  face  of  the  religious  world,  and  you 
will  be  a  witness  of  it."  Then  and  there  the  young  man 
felt  that  he  must  not  only  witness  but  take  part  in  the 
coming  change.  He  gladly  availed  himself  of  Bric.on- 
net's  plan  of  campaign,  and  after  remaining  awhile 
longer  at  Paris,  he  was  found  at  Meaux  in  1521  with  that 
group  of  ardent  young  souls  preaching  and  expounding 
the  Scriptures  among  the  people.  A  stop  was  soon  put 
to  the  good  bishop's  innovation,  and  the  movement  was 

1  Besides  various  encyclopaedia  articles,  accounts  in  the  church 
histories,  and  incidental  notices  in  Beza's  and  Bungener's  lives  of 
Calvin,  I  have  found  profit  and  pleasure  in  reading  a  bright  sketch 
by  Charles  Cheneviere,  Farel,  Froment  et  Viret,  Geneva,  1855. 


434  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

suppressed.  As  Farel  had  been  very  zealous  and  pro- 
nounced, he  thought  it  best  to  go  into  hiding  for  awhile, 
hoping  that  the  storm  would  cease  and  he  would  in  time 
have  some  opening  in  France  to  preach  the  reform  doc- 
trines. But  after  about  a  year  of  inactivity,  as  the  pros- 
pects seemed  no  better,  he  sadly  turned  away  from  France 
and  came,  in  1523,  to  Basel. 

Here  the  excellent  CEcolampadius  received  and  en- 
couraged him.  It  will  be  recalled  that  they  held  a  public 
disputation  on  the  questions  between  the  Catholics  and 
Reformers.  Farel  put  up  his  theses  in  Latin  and  de- 
fended them  in  the  same  tongue,  CEcolampadius  interpret- 
ing. The  result  was  favorable  to  reform  and  encourag- 
ing to  the  Reformers.  But  it  aroused  the  ire  of  Erasmus, 
and  he  used  his  influence  to  have  Farel  sent  away. 

After  visiting  Zurich,  and  later  Strasburg,  Farel 
turned,  though  not  without  fear  and  trembling  at  first, 
to  French  Switzerland.  It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  his 
chief  human  encouragement  in  beginning  the  distinctive 
work  of  his  life  came  from  the  wise  and  gentle  CEcolam- 
padius, who  not  only  urged  him  to  the  task,  but  gave  him 
salutary  and  needed  cautions  against  the  vehemence  and 
excess  which  were  Farel's  main  fault.  He  had  a  suc- 
cessful evangelistic  career  in  the  towns  of  French  Swit- 
zerland. In  some  he  remained  longer  than  in  others,  in 
all  he  preached  the  gospel  with  an  eloquence  born  of 
conviction,  and  with  all  the  fire  of  his  race.  He  did  not 
always  keep  the  good  counsel  of  CEcolampadius — he  was 
a  Frenchman — and  Farel!  Once  he  snatched  the  wafer 
out  of  the  hand  of  a  priest  who  was  going  to  administer 
extreme  unction  to  a  dying  man.  This  was  perhaps  the 
most  extreme  of  his  many  extravagant  actions,  and  was 
indefensible  on  any  grounds.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
his  usefulness  in  that  place  was  at  an  end. 

Often  he  was  mobbed,  insulted,  sometimes  beaten,  but 
never  subdued.  When  he  succeeded  in  establishing  a  re- 
formed church  in  a  place  he  would  leave  it  in  the  hands 
of  a  pastor  or  pastors.  At  Orbe,  in  1531,  he  was  very 
roughly  treated,  but  his  visit  there  is  memorable  for 
having  brought  out  and  started  on  his  way  the  later  asso- 
ciate of  himself  and  Calvin  at  Geneva,  the  useful  and  elo- 
quent Viret. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,   AGE         435 

In  1532  Farel  attended  the  synod  at  Bern,  and  then 
went,  at  great  risk,  into  Piedmont  to  a  synod  of  the 
Waldenses  and  helped  them  conform  their  churches 
more  closely  to  the  divine  Word.  He  saw  that  they 
needed  leaders  and  a  version  of  the  Bible,  and  he  prom- 
ised to  send  them  four  men  who  should  help  them.  He 
was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  later  sent  them  the  men, 
among  whom  was  Robert  Olivetan,  a  kinsman  and  friend 
of  John  Calvin,  who  had  helped  that  young  man  in  his 
early  struggles  toward  the  truth,  an  admirable  teacher 
who  had  aided  in  giving  the  Reformation  a  start  at 
Geneva,  and  a  pious  scholar  whose  version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures for  these  Waldensians  was  one  of  the  earliest  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible  into  French. 

On  his  return  from  Piedmont,  accompanied  by  Sau- 
nier,  another  useful  helper  and  preacher,  Farel  came  to 
Geneva  in  September,  1532.  Olivetan  was  then  teaching 
there,  and  he  told  Farel  that  a  beginning  had  been  made 
toward  reform,  and  that  some  people  in  Geneva  were 
hungering  for  the  truth.  Farel  needed  no  further  hint, 
and  decided  to  remain  and  preach  the  reform.  He  held 
frequent  conversations  with  those  who  would  come  to 
his  lodgings,  and  as  a  result  fifteen  citizens  were  con- 
verted. The  news  spread,  and  soon  the  lodgings  would 
not  hold  the  crowds  who  came  to  hear  the  gospel.  This, 
of  course,  roused  the  anger  of  the  Catholics,  and  there 
was  much  excitement.  But  the  city  authorities  proposed 
that  Farel  should  meet  his  opponents  in  a  public  discus- 
sion of  the  points  in  controversy,  and  that  the  debate 
should  be  held  before  the  council.  Nothing  suited  Farel 
better,  and  he  and  his  friends  came  joyfully  before  the 
council  on  the  day  appointed.  But  the  priests  wanted  no 
fair  debate ;  there  was  no  prospect  of  victory  for  them  in 
that.  Instead  of  arguments  they  resorted  to  clubs,  and 
made  a  tumult,  breaking  up  the  meeting  with  violence. 
Farel  and  Saunier  were  beaten  almost  to  death,  but 
finally  the  authorities  succeeded  in  getting  them  out  of 
the  city.  Thus  in  disorder  and  violence  Protestantism 
made  its  beginning  in  Geneva,  but  it  had  come  to  stay ; 
and  this  seeming  defeat  was  not  the  last  of  Farel.  At 
Granson  the  two  companions,  wounded  and  sore,  but  not 
discouraged,  recounted  their  experiences  to  sympathizers, 


436  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

and  among  these  was  Antoine  Froment,  who  was  filled 
with  a  desire  to  go  to  Geneva  and  find  ways  to  hold  to- 
gether the  disciples  who  had  been  gathered  there,  and 
carry  on  the  work.  He  went,  in  this  fall  of  1532.  In 
the  next  year,  encouraged  and  in  a  measure  protected  by 
the  Bernese  authorities,  who  had  strong  and  growing 
political  influence  at  Geneva,  Farel  returned,  accom- 
panied this  time  by  Viret.  They  joined  Froment  in  car- 
rying forward  the  work.  The  details  of  their  trials  and 
successes  we  have  to  pass  over.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
the  Reformation  constantly  gained  upon  the  old  faith, 
both  among  the  people  and  with  their  official  heads,  but 
there  was  constant  and  formidable  opposition. 

In  1535  the  long  contest  was  decided,  and  by  formal 
vote  of  the  council  Protestantism  was  recognized  and  es- 
tablished as  the  religion  of  Geneva.  But  much  remained 
to  be  done  both  in  settling  the  new  order  of  things  and  in 
keeping  up  the  fight  with  the  remaining  and  vigorous  op- 
position. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1536,  the  young  John  Calvin 
was  passing  through  Geneva  with  his  brother  and  sister, 
seeking  in  this  roundabout  way  a  refuge  in  Strasburg 
or  Basel.  Farel  saw  in  Calvin  the  qualifications  needed 
just  then  in  a  leader  for  Geneva,  and  so  wrought  upon 
him  that  Calvin  heeded  the  call  as  from  God  and  con- 
sented to  remain  and  work  with  the  three  pioneers  in 
further  establishing  and  strengthening  the  cause  of  re- 
form in  Geneva. 

For  a  time  the  four  reformers  worked  on  together,  but 
soon  Viret  went  to  Lausanne,  and  in  1538  the  party  hostile 
to  the  disciplinary  measures  of  the  reform  gained  the 
upper  hand,  and  banished  Calvin,  Farel  and  Froment. 
After  awhile  Farel  became  pastor  at  Neuchatel,  which 
remained  his  place  of  residence  and  the  main  scene  of  his 
labors  until  his  death,  in  1565,  a  few  months  after  Cal- 
vin's. The  remainder  of  his  long  and  useful  life  was  full 
of  activity  and  of  successful  work.  Neuchatel  formally 
adopted  the  Reformation  in  1542,  and  other  signal  suc- 
cesses were  achieved  by  the  veteran.  But  his  life  had 
reached  its  culmination  in  that  dramatic  and  splendid 
scene  when  he  laid  on  the  heart  and  mind  of  John  Calvin 
the  cause  of  reform  at  Geneva,  and  resigned  into  abler 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         437 

hands  than  his  own  the  direction  and  consummation  of 
a  work  that  his  courage,  eloquence  and  self-sacrifice  had 
so  nobly  begun. 

Farel  was  not  without  serious  faults  of  character, 
chief  of  which  were  his  rashness  and  excess.  He  could 
not  be  prudent,  and  was  sometimes  vehement  to  the  point 
of  violence  and  rudeness.  But  he  was  sincere,  self-sacri- 
ficing, devoted  and  brave.  He  left  some  writings,  but 
they  are  of  no  great  importance.  He  had  studied  well 
in  his  youth,  and  was  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  but 
he  was  a  man  of  action  rather  than  of  the  pen.  He  was 
not  a  deep  but  a  quick  and  ready  thinker,  and  a  good  de- 
bater. No  sermons  remain  as  specimens  of  his  preach- 
ing, and  if  they  did  they  could  not  in  printed  form  ex- 
press the  man.  But  the  results  of  his  work  and  the 
accounts  of  his  preaching  tell  us  more  plainly  than  writ- 
ten discourses  could  that  he  was  a  man  of  mighty  and 
moving  speech.  He  had  good  presence  and  voice,  his 
words  came  like  a  torrent,  and  his  own  fiery  nature  and 
powerful  convictions  kindled  a  glow  in  those  who  heard. 
Sharp  and  bitter  in  attack,  he  could  also  be  tender  and 
persuasive  in  appeal.  Before  the  multitude,  in  the  popu- 
lar eloquence  that  takes  hold  of  the  crowd  and  stirs  them 
profoundly,  whether  for  opposition  or  consent,  there  was 
among  the  early  reformers  no  superior  to  William  Farel. 

Antoine  Froment  (1509-1581)  was  born  in  Dauphine, 
and  was  early  converted  there  under  the  influence  of  one 
of  the  evangelical  preachers  of  Brigonnet's  company  at 
Meaux.  He  began  to  preach,  but  persecution  soon  drove 
him  to  find  a  refuge  in  Switzerland,  where  he  met  with 
Farel  and  took  some  share  in  his  work.  On  the  expul- 
sion of  Farel  and  Saunier  from  Geneva  in  1532,  Froment 
was  working  at  Granson,  and  the  story  of  their  success 
and  sufferings  so  worked  on  him  that,  with  Farel's  en- 
couragement, he  determined  to  go  to  Geneva,  and,  if 
possible,  find  some  means  to  continue  the  work  which 
they  had  begun  and  had  been  so  rudely  forced  to  leave. 
Arriving  in  Geneva  he  opened  a  school  for  teaching 
French,  and  along  with  that  taught  the  new  doctrines  in 
religion.  The  pupils  told  their  parents,  many  of  them 
were  interested,  others  gathered,  and  Froment's  school 
soon  became  a  place  of  worship.  The  opposition  was 


A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

alert  and  active,  and  Froment  thought  he  would  have  to 
leave.  In  fact,  he  did  start  away,  but  had  not  gone  far 
before  he  began  to  feel  that  he  was  not  playing  the  man, 
and  he  determined  to  retrace  his  steps  and,  braving  all 
danger,  take  up  his  work  again.  Later  he  was  joined  by 
Farel  and  Viret,  as  we  have  seen,  and  the  three  worked 
on  together  till  Calvin  came,  in  1536,  and  gave  a  new  im- 
petus and  direction  to  the  work,  till  all  were  forced  to 
retire  for  awhile  in  1538. 

The  later  life  of  Froment  was,  unhappily,  not  credita- 
ble. He  fell  into  serious  faults.  In  1549  he  left  the 
ministry,  and  in  various  ways  made  his  living.  Among 
other  things  he  was  at  one  time  secretary  to  Bonivard, 
the  famous  Genevese  patriot  and  "  prisoner  of  Chillon," 
at  whose  request  Froment  wrote  an  account  of  the  early 
days  of  the  Reformation  in  Geneva.  It  is  believed  that 
Froment  sincerely  repented  of  his  errors  of  conduct.  The 
lapse  of  his  later  years  has  been  forgotten  in  apprecia- 
tion of  his  earlier  services,  and  his  name  is  inscribed,  along 
with  those  of  Farel,  Viret,  and  Calvin,  on  the  memorial 
tablet  in  the  temple  of  St.  Pierre  at  Geneva  as  one  of  the 
honored  reformers  of  the  city. 

As  a  preacher  Froment  had  something  of  the  popular 
eloquence,  the  rough  and  ready  speech  of  Farel,  but  he 
was  not  so  great  a  man  either  in  mind  or  character. 

A  worthier  and  abler  man  than  Froment  was  Pierre 
Viret  (1511-1571),  a  native  of  Orbe,  in  the  canton  of 
Vaud,  and,  therefore,  a  Swiss  by  birth.  His  father  was 
a  tailor,  who,  however,  perceived  and  appreciated  the 
talent  and  promise  of  his  son,  designed  him  for  the 
church,  and  in  1527  sent  him  to  Paris  to  be  educated  for 
the  priesthood.  Here  for  three  years  he  studied  under 
Le  Fevre,  whose  teaching  planted  deeply  in  his  mind  the 
seeds  of  evangelical  truth.  But,  properly  speaking,  his 
conversion  to  Protestantism  and  his  entrance  into  the 
ministry  were,  under  God,  the  work  of  Farel.  In  1531 
that  intense  reformer  was  preaching  at  Orbe,  and,  as 
usual,  met  with  opposition  and  ill-treatment.  Viret  was 
roused  to  sympathy  by  the  indignities  put  upon  the 
preacher,  as  well  as  strengthened  in  his  reformed  con- 
victions by  the  preaching.  Farel  invited  him  to  share 
his  work  and  his  sufferings,  and  to  begin  by  preaching 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         439 

then  and  there,  in  his  own  town,  the  doctrines  that  he 
held.  Viret  consented,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  as 
a  reformer  under  those  circumstances.  He  was  with 
Farel  a  good  deal  in  his  travels,  but  also  did  much  inde- 
pendent work.  He  preached  at  many  places  in  Switzer- 
land and  in  southern  France,  and  had  his  share  of  inter- 
esting and  perilous  adventures.  Once  his  life  was  at- 
tempted by  an  angry  priest,  who  wounded  him  with  a 
sword,  and  once  a  fanatical  servant  girl  poisoned  his 
food  and  he  with  difficulty  recovered.  These  injuries 
seriously  impaired  his  health  for  life.  His  work  at  Neu- 
chatel  and  Lausanne  was  greatly  blessed,  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  worked  with  Farel  and  Froment  in  getting  the 
Reformation  established  in  Geneva  in  1535.  Two  years 
later,  and  before  the  retirement  of  the  reformers  from 
Geneva,  Viret  accepted  a  call  to  Lausanne,  where  he  did 
excellent  and  lasting  service  to  the  cause  of  reform,  not 
only  as  pastor,  but  also  by  the  establishment  of  a  school, 
the  germ  of  that  noble  university  which  has  had  so 
honorable  a  record  in  Protestant  history. 

When  Geneva,  tired  of  anarchy  in  religion  and  unbri- 
dled license  in  manners,  concluded  to  recall  the  reform- 
ers, Viret  was  invited  to  come  back  from  Lausanne,  and 
he  returned  to  Geneva  before  Calvin.  It  was  greatly 
to  Calvin's  delight  that  he  had  on  his  return  the  help  of 
this  true  and  tried  fellow-laborer.  But  the  climate  of 
Geneva  proved  rather  severe  for  Viret's  health,  and  he 
sought  the  south  of  France.  He  preached  with  great 
success  in  a  number  of  cities  in  southern  France,  and  at 
last,  as  Cheneviere  says,  "  felt  himself  strong  enough  to 
confront  the  fogs  of  the  Rhone,  and  respond  to  a  call  of 
the  Reformed  at  Lyons."  Here  he  labored  for  nearly  a 
year  with  such  wonderful  favor  that  several  thousand 
persons  were  converted,  a  strong  church  was  formed,  and 
there  was  prospect  of  making  Lyons  a  sort  of  center  for 
Protestantism  in  France.  But  the  Catholics  were  alarmed 
and  procured  an  edict  from  Charles  IX.  that  only  native- 
born  Frenchmen  be  allowed  to  preach  in  the  Protestant 
churches  in  France.  As  Viret  was  of  Swiss  birth,  he  was 
forced  to  leave.  Geneva  tried  again  to  get  him,  but  he 
preferred  a  milder  climate,  and  after  teaching  school  for 
a  while  at  Orange  he  made  his  way  to  Orthez  in  the  little 


440  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

kingdom  of  Beam,  or  Navarre,  where  the  celebrated 
Jeanne  d'Albret,  the  Protestant  princess  and  mother  of 
the  future  Henry  IV.  of  France,  was  holding  her  court. 
Protected  and  honored  by  the  queen,  Viret  passed  his  re- 
maining days  as  preacher  and  theological  teacher  at  Or- 
thez,  and  at  his  death  his  remains  were  honored  with 
burial  in  the  royal  vault. 

In  winsomeness,  amiability,  attractiveness,  Viret  was 
superior  to  Farel  and  Froment  and  to  Calvin,  too;  as  a 
preacher  he  was  superior  to  Froment,  and  very  different 
from  both  of  the  others.  While  not  deficient  in  learning 
and  culture,  he,  of  course,  was  far  below  Calvin,  though 
above  Farel.  His  eloquence  had  not  the  thoughtful 
power  of  Calvin's,  nor  the  vehement  energy  of  Farel's  ;  it 
was  gentle,  persuasive,  flowing.  His  voice  was  sweet,  but 
weak,  and  crowds  almost  held  their  breath  to  hear  him. 
There  was  a  charm  and  persuasiveness  that  drew  and 
won,  while  yet,  under  sense  of  wrong  and  against  arro- 
gant sin,  the  delicate  lips  could  quiver  with  indignation 
and  utter  the  sharpest  sarcasms.  In  writing  Viret  was 
too  diffuse,  and  probably  this  fault  affected  his  sermons 
also,  though  of  these  no  printed  specimens  remain. 

3.     CALVIN  AND  BEZA 

Great  in  many  ways  and  wonderfully  useful  as  were 
these  early  promoters  of  the  Reformation  in  France  and 
French  Switzerland,  they  all  come  far  below  the  com- 
manding genius  and  extended  influence  of  one  who  built 
upon  their  foundations  indeed,  but  such  a  structure  as  it 
was  not  given  to  them  to  raise  —  John  Calvin1  (1509- 


In  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  lived 
in  the  town  of  Noyon,  in  Picardy,  a  worthy  citizen  whose 
name  was  Gerard  Cauvin,  or  Chauvin.  The  name  was 
Latinized  later  into  Calvinus,  and  then  abbreviated  into 
Calvin. 

His  wife,  Jeanne  Lefranc,  was  a  woman  of  excellent 

1  For  Calvin,  besides  many  general  authorities  too  numerous  to 
mention  in  detail,  I  have  found  specially  helpful  the  following: 
The  brief  rtsumi  of  his  life  prefixed  to  Calvin's  commentary  on 
the  Psalms;  Vie  de  Calvin,  par  Theodore  de  Beze;  Jean  Calvin, 
sa  Vie,  son  (Euvre,  et  ses  Ecrits,  par  Felix  Bungener,  Paris  1862  ; 
and  some  sermons  in  both  the  orginal  and  translations. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         441 

gifts  and  piety,  who  taught  the  best  Catholic  religion 
of  her  times  to  her  children.  Among  these  one  named 
for  his  mother,  Jean  (John),  was  born  in  1509.  A  deli- 
cate child  he  was,  but  marvellously  bright,  with  his  keen 
eyes,  clear  head,  and  prodigious  memory.  His  parents 
early  destined  him  for  the  church — the  mother  with  the 
yearnings  of  piety,  the  father  with  those  of  ambition. 
Seeing  bishoprics  or  a  cardinalate  ahead,  Gerard  worked 
hard  to  secure  for  the  gifted  youth  a  suitable  education. 
But  as  the  cost  was  very  great,  Cauvin,  who  had  influ- 
ence with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  used  it  to  secure 
for  the  studious  and  pure  lad  an  appointment  as  chaplain 
in  a  small  church  in  the  neighborhood,  that  the  little  sal- 
ary attached  to  the  place  might  help  defray  the  expenses 
of  education. 

At  first  the  boy  John  seems  not  to  have  been  required 
to  discharge  any  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  Later  his 
father  obtained  the  privilege  that  he  should  not  even  be 
required  to  reside  near  his  church,  but  should  be  per- 
mitted to  pursue  his  studies  "  when  and  where  he  would." 
And  so,  in  1523,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  we  find  him  at 
Paris,  where  he  studied  at  various  schools  and  greatly 
distinguished  himself  in  all  departments,  but  especially 
in  logic  and  related  subjects.  His  morals  were  absolutely 
pure,  and  his  grave  rebukes  of  his  companions  obtained 
for  him,  more  in  pleasantry  than  bitterness,  the  nick- 
name of  "  The  Accusative."  Meantime  the  busy  Gerard 
has  secured  an  additional  appointment  for  the  youth, 
which  enables  him  to  go  on  with  his  studies.  So  John 
Calvin,  before  he  is  twenty  years  old,  is  chaplain  at  two 
places — Noyon  and  Pont  T  Eveque,  not  very  far  away. 
He  did  not,  however,  receive  ordination  as  a  priest;  but 
had  some  nominal  functions  to  perform,  and  seems  to 
have  visited  his  appointments  and  occasionally  to  have 
preached.  The  arrangement  certainly  was  not  a  proper 
one,  from  any  point  of  view,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  such  things  were  often  tolerated,  and  this  was  done 
openly  and  by  regular  authority  of  the  bishop  of  Noyon ; 
that  Calvin  held  these  offices  with  the  expectation  of  fully 
discharging  their  duties  when  he  had  completed  his 
studies,  or  of  giving  himself  to  the  service  of  the  church 
in  other  ways;  and  finally,  that  when  his  views  changed 


442  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  he  felt  compelled  to  leave  the  church  he  voluntarily 
resigned  both  offices. 

And  now  Gerard's  ambition  takes  a  new  turn,  and  he 
decides  that  under  the  general  permission  to  pursue  his 
studies  at  his  pleasure  John  may  undertake  the  study  of 
law,  and  devote  himself  to  that  lucrative  profession  if  he 
should  hereafter  find  it  desirable !  Under  this  liberal  con- 
struction of  privilege  we  find  the  obedient  son — not  from 
his  own  inclination — next  engaged  in  the  mastery  of  the 
science  of  law.  He  pursued  this  study  with  notable  suc- 
cess under  distinguished  teachers  at  Orleans  and  Bruges. 
This  training  was  an  important  element  in  his  after  ca- 
reer. 

While  at  Paris  Calvin  had  been  much  under  the  in- 
fluence of  his  excellent  kinsman,  Robert  Olivetan,  whom 
he  had  heard  boldly  preach  the  evangelical  doctrines. 
His  own  earnest  study  of  theology,  of  the  stirring  ques- 
tions raised  by  the  reformers,  and,  most  of  all,  of  the 
Bible,  had  been  slowly  but  surely  turning  his  mind  to- 
ward Protestantism.  While  studying  law  at  Bruges  he 
forsook  neither  his  Bible  studies  nor  his  religious  activi- 
ties. He  took  up  the  study  of  Greek  with  Alleman  (or 
Walmer,  the  eminent  Swabian  humanist,  who  later  also 
taught  Theodore  Beza),  and  in  a  short  time  mastered 
the  language  and  studied  the  Greek  Testament  with  de- 
light and  to  good  purpose.  Meantime  the  people  in  the 
neighborhood,  hungering  for  religious  instruction,  urged 
him  to  lecture  and  preach.  By  permission  of  the  authori- 
ties he  thus  informally  and  often  preached  and  expounded 
Scripture  at  the  little  town  of  Berri  near  by.  In  this  way 
he  began  his  work  as  a  preacher,  and  thus  early  was 
fixed  the  character  of  his  preaching,  as  clear  and  popular 
exposition  of  Scripture. 

It  was  during  this  time,  too,  that  his  final  hesitations 
were  dismissed,  and  he  found  mental  and  spiritual  rest 
in  the  full  acceptance  of  the  distinctive  reformed  doc- 
trines and  of  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour.  His  own  account 
of  the  great  crisis  that  he  then  passed  is  given  with 
characteristic  force  and  terseness  in  his  beautiful  Latin 
in  the  preface  to  his  commentary  on  the  Psalms,  and  sets 
forth  the  fact  that,  after  he  had  long  been  obstinately  de- 
voted to  the  errors  of  the  papacy,  God,  by  his  grace,  had 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          443 

"  reduced  his  hardened  mind  to  docility  by  a  sudden  con- 
version." 1  He  does  not  go  into  details,  as  the  more 
genial  Luther  did,  and  we  can  only  conjecture  the  spirit- 
ual struggle  which  culminated  thus.  Now,  too,  the  death 
of  Gerard  Cauvin  left  the  son  free  to  abandon  the  law 
and  required  his  attention  to  the  family  affairs  at  Noyon. 
Later  Calvin  is  sojourning  at  Paris  and  publishing  his 
first  book,  a  commentary  on  Seneca's  De  dementia,.  At 
twenty-four  years  of  age  he  is  already  accomplished  in 
classical,  legal  and  theological  training,  and  walks  with 
firm  tread  among  the  scholars  of  his  time.  During  this 
sojourn  in  Paris,  not  yet  having  left  the  Catholic  church, 
possibly  hoping  still  for  reformation  within  it,  and  wait- 
ing for  the  drift  of  things,  he  is  not  idle,  but  studying 
and  in  various  ways  teaching  the  reformed  views. 

At  this  time  Nicholas  Cop  was  rector  of  the  University 
of  Paris,  and  being  required  to  deliver  a  sermon  upon 
some  important  academic  occasion,  he  asked  Calvin  to 
assist  him  in  preparing  the  discourse.  When  it  was  de- 
livered its  pronounced  Protestantism  created  a  storm. 
Cop  was  compelled  to  flee,  and  the  real  author  being  sus- 
pected and  hunted,  Calvin  also  was  forced  to  leave  Paris. 
He  retired  first  to  Saintonge,  where,  in  various  ways, 
teaching  and  preaching,  he  aided  the  little  Protestant 
flock  gathered  there ;  and  later  went  to  Nerac  to  see  the 
aged  Le  Fevre,  who  was  living  there  under  protection  of 
Margaret  of  Navarre.  This  princess,  who  in  so  many 
ways  showed  her  care  for  the  persecuted  Protestants, 
finally  persuaded  the  king,  her  brother,  to  let  the  Cop 
affair  drop,  and  Calvin  was  allowed  to  return  to  Paris. 

In  the  year  1534  Calvin  went  to  Noyon  and  formally 
resigned  the  two  church  offices  that  he  held.  He  had 
come  to  see  that  reformation  within  the  church  was  not 
to  be  hoped  for,  and  that  he  must  in  conscience  take  his 
place  with  the  Protestants  on  the  outside.  In  the  fall 
of  that  year  Francis  I.,  under  clerical  influences,  came 
out  strongly  in  favor  of  the  old  faith,  and  began  a  vigor- 
ous persecution  of  the  Protestants.  This  practically 

1 "  Deus  tamen  arcano  proyidentiae  suae  f reno  cursum  meum 
alio  tandem  reflexit.  Ac  primo  quidem,  quum  superstitionibus 
papatus  magis  pertinaciter  addictus  essem,  quam  ut  facile  esset  e 
tarn  profundo  luto  me  extrahi,  animum  meum,  qui  pro  aetate 
nimis  obduerat,  subita  conversione  ad  docilitatem  subegit." 


444  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

drove  the  Protestants  out  of  the  kingdom.  Like  others, 
Calvin  sadly  left  his  native  land  and  retired  to  Switzer- 
land. At  Strasburg  he  was  joyfully  welcomed  by  Capito 
and  Butzer,  and  later  went  to  Basel,  where  Myconius 
and  others  likewise  gave  him  a  cordial  reception.  During 
this  time,  with  the  help  of  Capito  and  Simon  Grynaeus, 
he  learned  Hebrew,  and  was  now  ready  to  study  all  the 
Bible  in  the  original  languages.  But  the  crowning  event 
of  his  sojourn  at  Basel  was  the  writing  and  publishing, 
in  Latin,  of  his  famous  Institutes  of  Christianity.  This 
immortal  and  epoch-making  work  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pal labors  of  Calvin's  life,  and  passed  through  many  edi- 
tions and  revisions  before  it  reached  its  final  form  in 
I559»  a  few  years  before  the  author's  death. 

The  occasion  for  writing  and  publishing  the  work 
was  that,  for  political  reasons,  in  his  quarrel  with  Charles 
V.,  Francis  had  caused  it  to  be  given  out  that  his  oppres- 
sion of  the  Protestants  in  France  was  directed  against 
seditious  sectaries  like  the  Anabaptists  and  others.  Calvin 
determined  that  a  brief  and  clear  statement  of  what  the 
Reformed  commonly  believed  was  called  for.  The  pre- 
face, written  in  French,  was  a  brave  and  manly  appeal  to 
the  French  king  to  consider  what  his  Protestant  subjects 
really  believed,  and  not  allow  himself  to  be  misled  by  the 
calumnies  of  their  enemies.  The  treatise  in  six  chapters 
was  a  compendious  and  lucid  statement  of  the  principal 
points  held  by  the  generality  of  Protestants  as  against 
Rome.  It  was  hailed  by  Reformers  everywhere  as  a 
clear  and  powerful  expression  of  the  things  they  held 
in  common;  though  (if  a  remark  in  the  preface  to  the 
Psalms  is  correctly  understood)  it  appeared  anonymously, 
the  author  soon  became  known,  and  his  name  was  on 
every  Protestant  tongue.  From  now  on  John  Calvin 
takes  his  place  with  Zwingli  and  Luther  as  one  of  the 
three  greatest  reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

After  the  publication  of  his  book  Calvin  made  a  visit 
to  Italy  to  consult  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  a  princess  of 
France  who,  under  the  influence  of  Margaret  of  Valois, 
had  embraced  Reformed  views  and  favored  the  Protest- 
ants as  much  as  she  dared.  But  her  plans  were  thwarted 
by  the  vigilant  and  determined  Catholics,  and,  both  on 
her  own  account  and  that  of  her  guests,  it  became  unsafe 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          44$ 

for  them  to  remain  long  at  Ferrara.  By  some  force  of 
necessity,  or  during  some  lull  in  the  watchfulness  of  the 
persecutors,  Calvin  paid  a  last  visit  to  his  old  home  at 
Noyon  in  the  summer  of  1536.  Here  he  finally  settled 
his  affairs,  and,  taking  with  him  his  brother  Antony  and 
a  sister,  he  proposed  to  find  a  home  in  Strasburg  or 
Basel.  The  direct  way  through  Lorraine  was  then 
closed  by  the  war  between  Francis  I.  and  Charles  V.,  and 
Calvin  came  around  by  way  of  Geneva,  where  he  arrived 
in  August,  1536. 

Farel  learned  of  Calvin's  presence  in  the  city  and  vis- 
ited him  at  his  lodgings.  What  first  impressions  may 
have  been  made  on  the  veteran  reformer  by  the  pale, 
thin,  feeble-looking  student  we  do  not  know;  but  as  the 
interview  proceeded  Farel  began  to  urge  Calvin  to  stay 
at  Geneva  and  take  hold  of  the  work  He  eloquently  set 
forth  its  need  of  a  capable  leader,  a  man  qualified  by  edu- 
cation to  carry  on  the  work  in  a  way  that  he  and  his 
associates  could  not.  But  Calvin  was  reluctant;  he 
pleaded  his  youth,  his  unfitness,  and  chiefly  his  love  for 
study,  rather  than  the  untried  responsibilities  of  a  life  of 
active  leadership  in  difficult  affairs.  Finally,  under  a 
sudden  and  irresistible  impulse,  Farel  rose  and,  extending 
his  hand  over  Calvin,  said  :*  "  You  have  no  other  pretext 
for  refusing  me  than  the  attachment  which  you  declare  you 
have  for  your  studies.  But  I  tell  you,  in  the  name  of  God  Al- 
mighty, that  if  you  do  not  share  with  me  the  holy  work 
in  which  I  am  engaged  he  will  not  bless  your  plans,  be- 
cause you  prefer  your  repose  to  Jesus  Christ !  "  Calvin 
himself  said  that  this  "  terrible  adjuration  "  came  to  him 
as  the  voice  of  God,  and  that  he  yielded,  believing  that  it 
was  the  divine  will  for  him  to  take  hold  of  the  work  at 
Geneva.  So  now,  with  one  brief  and  sharp  interruption, 
that  city  becomes  his  home,  and,  it  may  almost  be  said, 
his  kingdom,  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Politically  Geneva  was  at  this  time  in  a  state  of  transi- 
tion. Practically  it  was  a  republic  all  to  itself,  for  it  had 
recently  become  free  from  the  control  of  both  the  Cath- 
olic bishops  and  the  dukes  of  Savoy,  who  had  quarrelled 
over  it  for  generations,  and  it  had  not  yet  joined  the 
Swiss  Confederation.  There  were  two  popular  assem- 
1Beza's  Life  (old  French  ed.),  p.  22. 


446  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

blies,  the  Grand  Council  and  a  smaller  body;  and  four 
Syndics  constituted  the  executive  arm  of  the  government. 

As  we  have  seen  in  our  sketch  of  Farel,  the  council 
had  taken  charge  of  both  civil  and  religious  affairs,  and 
had  established  the  Reformed  faith  as  the  religion  of 
Geneva  in  1535.  Just  one  year  later  Calvin  comes  on  the 
scene.  But  things  were  really  in  quite  a  chaotic  state, 
and  the  new  conditions  required  greater  capacity  for 
organization  and  direction  than  any  of  the  earlier  re- 
formers possessed.  Farel  was  not  mistaken  in  his  man. 

At  the  instance  of  Farel  Calvin  was  appointed  by  the 
council  a  preacher  and  teacher  of  theology.  The  hand  of 
the  born  leader  soon  appeared.  Not  only  did  preaching 
and  teaching  occupy  his  time,  but  he  drew  up  a  catechism 
and  a  confession  of  faith,  and  also  laid  his  strong  hand 
to  the  reformation  of  morals  by  rigid  church  discipline. 
Geneva  was  hardly  ready  for  this,  and  the  measures  of 
the  reformers  provoked  such  opposition  as  to  lead  at  last 
to  a  revulsion  of  feeling  that  ended  in  the  election  to  office 
of  men  who  disliked  the  reformers,  and  finally  secured, 
in  1538,  their  deposition  and  banishment.  Farel  settled 
at  Neuchatel,  Calvin  at  Strasburg,  where  Butzer  and 
Capito  arranged  that  he  should  be  pastor  of  a  small 
church  of  French  refugees. 

During  the  years  at  Strasburg  (1538-1541)  Calvin 
was  busy  as  preacher  and  pastor,  but  also  much  occupied 
in  theological  writing,  and  in  various  ways  helping  on  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  Here  he  met  and  married 
Idelette  de  Bure,  the  widow  of  a  former  Anabaptist 
preacher,  and  she  proved  through  her  life  a  tender  and 
faithful  spouse.  But  affairs  at  Geneva  deeply  concerned 
him,  and  his  influence  was  greatly  felt.  Moral,  religious, 
and  political  disorder  reigned  in  the  city,  till,  finally,  feel- 
ing again  turned,  and  first  Viret,  and  then  Calvin  himself, 
was  called  to  return  and  carry  on  the  work  of  reform. 

So  in  1541  Calvin  is  again  called  as  chief  preacher  and 
teacher  of  theology  at  Geneva.-  For  more  than  twenty 
years  he  filled  that  post  and  did  a  masterly  work.  We 
are  concerned  with  him  chiefly  as  a  preacher,  and  it  does 
not  fall  to  this  discussion  to  trace  his  career  as  a  re- 
former, as  virtual  civil  guide,  if  not  ruler,  of  his  city,  and 
as  theologian  and  counsellor  of  the  Reformation  in  many 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          447 

lands.  After  Luther's  death  he  was  the  leading  figure 
among  the  Protestants,  and  his  influence  throughout  Eu- 
rope was  immense.  The  one  sad  blot  upon  his  great  ca- 
reer is  the  persecuting  temper  which  he  shared  with  many 
others  of  his  time,  and  which  led  (though  he  was  not 
alone  to  blame)  to  the  execution  of  the  erratic  and  surely 
not  admirable  Servetus  at  Geneva.  While  that  execution 
cannot  be  justified,  at  least  it  should  be  remembered  to 
Calvin's  credit  that  he  tried  to  keep  Servetus  from  coming 
to  Geneva  and  sought  to  mitigate  the  sentence  of  burning 
at  the  stake  which  was  imposed  by  the  city  council.  To 
Calvin  himself  it  was  a  sad  and  bitter  trial. 

Sickness  and  death  came  to  his  people  and  to  his  fam- 
ily. One  after  another  his  three  babes  died,  and  after 
them  the  true  and  faithful  wife.  His  own  feeble  frame, 
naturally  delicate,  and  worn  down  by  severe  study  and 
overwork,  was  racked  with  painful  disorders.  Yet  this 
man  of  high  conscience  and  inflexible  purpose  worked  on, 
preaching  in  each  alternate  week  every  day,  besides  the 
usual  Sunday  services,  lecturing  nearly  every  day  on  the- 
ology, attending  the  meetings  of  the  consistory  on  the 
days  appointed  and  guiding  its  deliberations,  visiting  the 
sick  of  his  flock,  entertaining  visitors,  conducting  a  large 
and  taxing  correspondence,  and,  as  if  these  official  duties 
were  not  enough,  writing  his  commentaries,  revising  and 
republishing  his  Institutes  and  some  other  works,  and  re- 
futing heretics !  It  is  simply  marvellous  how  any  one  man 
could  have  done  all  he  did,  and  the  wonder  is  intensified 
when  we  remember  that  he  was  a  feeble  man,  always  ail- 
ing and  often  ill.  His  wonderful  memory,  his  power  of 
concentration,  his  capacity  for  affairs,  his  quick  and  pene- 
trating intellect,  his  few  hours  of  sleep,  and,  above  all, 
the  driving  wheel  of  his  tremendous  will  help  to  explain 
how  he  could  attend  to  so  much,  but  even  this  combina- 
tion of  gifts  is  itself  a  marvel. 

Labors,  sorrows,  ill-health,  overwork  and  crushing  care 
must  have  their  victory  at  last  over  the  frail  body  that 
contained  a  mind  and  soul  so  great,  and  Calvin's  end 
was  rapidly  approaching.  Repeated  attacks  of  illness 
prostrated  him,  and  in  February,  1564,  he  preached  his 
last  sermon.  His  sickness  was  long  and  lingering.  The 
venerable  Farel  came  from  Neuchatel  to  see  him,  and 


448  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

their  last  interview  must  have  been  full  of  tender  feeling 
for  both.  One  day  Calvin  assembled  the  councillors  of 
the  city  about  his  bed  and  gave  them  a  parting  address 
and  a  solemn  leave-taking.  In  the  course  of  his  talk  to 
them  he  said : x  "  I  protest  before  God  that  not  rashly,  and 
not  without  being  persuaded  of  the  truth,  have  I  taught 
you  the  doctrine  which  you  have  heard  from  me;  but  I 
have  preached  to  you  purely  and  with  sincerity  the  Word 
of  God  according  to  the  charge  which  he  gave  me  con- 
cerning it." 

The  next  day  he  assembled  the  "  company  of  pastors," 
and,  after  solemnly  charging  them  as  to  their  duties,  he 
likewise  bade  them  farewell.  On  the  twenty-seventh  day 
of  May,  1564,  he  was  released  from  his  long  and  painful 
struggle  and  entered  into  the  eternal  peace.  In  accord- 
ance with  his  wishes  his  funeral  services,  though  largely 
attended,  were  without  pomp,  and  no  inscription  was 
placed  upon  his  grave.  His  unmarked  tomb  has  long 
been  lost,  but  his  name  is  enduringly  written  in  the  works 
that  live  after  him  and  in  the  abiding  influences  of  his 
life  and  mind. 

Calvin  had  some  serious  faults  of  character  along  with 
great  and  masterful  virtues.  He  was  irritable,  and  his 
anger  was  often  fierce  and  lasting.  But  he  was  conscious 
and  penitent  of  this  and  other  faults.  Pure  and  austere 
in  morals  himself,  he  was  a  rigid  disciplinarian  and  lack- 
ing in  sympathy  for  the  weak  and  erring.  Grave  and 
serious  from  childhood,  he  was  deficient  in  geniality,  in 
humor,  in  gentleness.  He  seems  to  have  practised  reserve 
and  self- repression,  but  the  tenderer  sides  of  his  nature 
would  sometimes,  though  rarely,  appear. 

Beza  somewhere  naively  remarks  that  if  Farel's  fire  and 
Viret's  winsomeness  had  been  added  to  Calvin's  qualities 
the  combination  would  have  made  a  well-nigh  perfect 
preacher.  As  it  was,  the  defects  of  Calvin's  character 
showed  themselves  in  his  work  as  a  preacher.  There  is 
lack  of  sympathy  and  charm,  deficiency  of  imagination, 
sparing  use  of  illustration,  no  poetic  turn,  no  moving 
appeal,  no  soaring  eloquence.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
virtues  of  the  man  and  the  endowments  of  the  intellect 
were  great  and  telling.  Courage,  candor,  love  of  truth, 
1  Quoted  in  Beza's  Life  of  Calvin. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         449 

devotion  to  duty,  fidelity  to  principle  and  to  friends, 
earnestness  of  purpose,  consecration  to  God  and  absorp- 
tion in  his  work — these  and  other  splendid  traits  make 
us  almost  forget  the  defects  that  have  been  mentioned. 
And  his  marvellous  intellect — capacious,  penetrating,  pro- 
found— so  wins  admiration  that  we  have  to  remember 
that  in  him  sympathy  and  imagination  were  not  equal  to 
reason  and  insight. 

In  Calvin's  preaching  the  expository  method  of  the 
Reformation  preachers  finds  emphasis.  His  commen- 
taries were  the  fruits  of  his  preaching  and  lecturing,  and 
his  sermons  were  commentaries  extended  and  applied. 
Mostly  in  the  homily  form  of  verse  by  verse  comment, 
there  is  yet  in  them  a  march  of  thought,  a  logical  se- 
quence that  simply  did  not  choose  to  express  itself  in  the 
scholastic  analysis.  In  truth,  this  lack  of  analysis  and 
clearly  defined  connection  is  remarkable  in  a  man  of  Cal- 
vin's logical  power.  It  shows  how  the  commentator  got 
the  better  of  the  preacher.  Yet  his  sermons  are  not 
mere  commentaries.  There  is  a  quickness  of  perception, 
a  sureness  of  touch,  a  power  of  expression  that  unite  to 
make  the  thought  of  Scripture  stand  out  and  produce  its 
own  impression  without  the  aid  of  the  orator's  art.  The 
style  was  clear,  vigorous  and  pointed,  without  ornament, 
but  chastely  and  severely  elegant;  without  warmth,  but 
intense  and  vigorous.  We  do  not  wonder  that  Bossuet, 
Catholic  and  orator,  should  find  Calvin's  style  "  triste '' 
(sad,  gloomy)  ;  but  Beza,  who  knew  the  effect  of  his 
preaching,  said  of  him  that  "  every  word  weighed  a 
pound — tot  verba  tot  pondera."  *  Calvin  had  no  striking 
presence,  nor  rich  and  sonorous  voice,  but  he  had  a  com- 
manding will  that  needed  no  physical  strength  to  supple- 
ment it,  and  a  sustained  intensity  of  conviction  that  could 
spare  the  help  of  a  flowing  eloquence. 

And  so,  though  the  highest  qualities  of  oratory  found 
no  place  in  Calvin's  preaching,  the  power  of  his  thought, 
the  force  of  his  will,  the  excellence  of  his  style,  and, 
above  all,  the  earnestness  with  which  he  made  the  truth 
of  God  shine  forth  in  his  words,  made  him  a  great 
preacher  and  deeply  impressed  on  his  hearers  the  great 
verities  of  the  Christian  faith. 

1  Broadus,  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  120. 


450  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

There  were  associates  and  friends  of  Calvin  at  Geneva, 
fellow-laborers  in  other  parts  of  Switzerland,  and,  as  far 
as  persecution  permitted,  in  France.  These  noble  and 
useful  men  preached  the  Reformed  doctrines  and  cared 
for  the  churches  of  that  faith,  but  none  of  them  attained 
any  marked  eminence,  except  Theodore  Beza  (d.  I6O5),1 
the  admirer,  friend,  associate,  and  successor  of  Calvin  at 
Geneva,  whom  Christlieb  describes  as  "  the  many-sided 
professor,  church  leader  and  tireless  preacher."  Born 
of  gentle  parents  at  Vezelay,  in  old  Burgundy,  Beza  was 
educated  at  Paris  and  Orleans.  He  was  designed  for  the 
bar,  but  preferred  literature,  and  was  a  poet  in  Latin  and 
French  while  yet  a  youth  in  the  gay  Parisian  world.  An 
illness  turned  his  thoughts  to  God  and  the  Reformed 
faith,  and  upon  his  conversion  he  went  to  Calvin  at 
Geneva.  He  was  gladly  welcomed,  and  soon  a  place  wa.s 
found  for  him  with  Viret  at  Lausanne,  where  he  taught 
Greek,  expounded  the  Scriptures,  and  carried  on  Marot's 
translation  of  the  Psalter.  He  was  active  in  efforts  to 
help  the  Reformation  by  writings  and  conferences,  in 
which  his  birth  and  breeding  helped  the  cause.  In  1559 
he  was  called  to  Geneva  to  teach  Greek  and  help  Calvin. 
He  was  also  installed  as  one  of  the  pastors,  and  his 
preaching  was  frequent  and  effective. 

His  learning  and  eloquence  gave  him  great  influence, 
and  in  1561  he  was  summoned  to  take  part  for  the  Hu- 
guenots in  a  famous  colloquy  called  by  Catherine  de  Med- 
ici, the  queen  mother,  to  be  held  at  Poissy,  near  Paris. 
Beza  achieved  notable  success  in  his  oration  and  con- 
duct, but,  of  course,  the  Catholics  took  care  that  nothing 
should  come  of  the  colloquy  in  favor  of  the  Protestants. 
Beza  remained  in  France  many  months,  laboring  for  his 
brethren,  but  at  last  returned  to  Geneva,  where  he  was 
soon  called  to  succeed  Calvin  as  leader.  His  long  and 
busy  life  as  preacher,  theologian,  scholar,  disputant,  con- 
tinued over  into  the  seventeenth  century. 

We  have  little  means  of  judging  of  his  powers  as  a 
preacher,  for  few  of  his  sermons  remain,  and  these  are 
not  important.  But  his  labors  in  the  pulpit  were  great 
and  fruitful.  Baird2  says  of  his  speaking  that  even  his 

Article  by  Heppe  in  Herzog;  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  VII.,  p. 
846  ff ;  Baird's  Rise  of  the  Huguenots,  passim. 
*  Rise  of  the  Huguenots,  I.,  p.  523  ff. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         451 

enemies  "  could  not  help  admitting  that  he  had  a  fine 
presence,  a  ready  wit,  and  keen  intellect,  and  that  his 
excellent  choice  of  language  and  ready  utterance  entitled 
him  to  the  credit  of  eloquence." 

Besides  the  great  leaders  of  the  Reformation  and  their 
more  immediate  associates  in  those  lands  where  the  re- 
form movement  had  its  origin  and  chief  strength,  there 
were  in  other  parts  of  the  Continent  of  Europe  and  among 
the  sects  in  various  lands  some  notable  preachers  who 
claim  notice  at  our  hands.  We  begin  with  those  of  Spain 
and  Italy. 

4.    REFORMATION  PREACHERS  IN  SOUTHERN  EUROPE. 

Under  the  pious  Catholic  Queen  Isabella  and  the 
learned  Cardinal  Ximenes  there  was  serious  attempt  to 
reform  the  Catholic  church  itself  in  Spain,  and  this  effort 
naturally  included  the  suppression  of  heresy  as  well  as  the 
correction  of  abuses.  If  the  one  side  of  the  work  sat- 
isfied many  who  wished  to  see  a  reformation,  so  the  other 
discouraged,  and  by  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition  perse- 
cuted and  destroyed  those  who  would  have  a  reformation 
in  any  other  than  a  strict  Catholic  sense.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing these  fearful  odds  there  were  some,  even  in 
Spain,  who  preached  the  evangelical  doctrines.1 

The  pious  and  devoted  Juan  de  Avila,  called  the  "  Apos- 
tle of  Andalusia,"  though  not  a  Protestant,  preached  a 
much  purer  gospel  than  most  of  his  Catholic  brethren,  and 
among  other  things  urged  upon  the  people  the  study  of 
the  Bible.  But  a  more  pronounced  reformatory  impulse 
came  from  Rodrigo  Valer  of  Seville.  He  was  a  wealthy, 
handsome,  popular  young  man  of  the  world,  who  suddenly 
for  some  reason  withdrew  from  social  life  and  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  He  became  con- 
vinced of  the  evangelical  doctrines,  and  began  boldly  to 
teach  them  both  in  personal  interviews  and  by  addressing 
the  people  as  he  could  in  public.  He  also  sought  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  clergy,  and  influenced  them  toward 
reformed  opinions.  His  activity,  for  he  ,was  very  bold, 

1In  addition  to  the  church  histories,  encyclopaedias,  etc.,  I  have 
found  help  in  Stoughton's  Spanish  Reformers,  Lond.,  1883 ;  Jules 
Lassalle's  La  Re  forme  en  Espagne,  Paris,  1883 ;  and  in  an  anony- 
mous French  work  on  the  same  subject  published  in  1827. 


452  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

soon  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Catholic  authorities,  and 
he  was  imprisoned,  but  he  was  strong  and  defiant  in  his 
views  and  would  not  recant  nor  modify  them.  He  was 
punished  in  various  ways  besides  imprisonment.  One 
penalty  was  that  he  had  to  wear  a  sanbenito,  or  garb  of  a 
condemned  prisoner,  attend  mass  and  hear  sermons.  But 
on  one  occasion  he  broke  in  upon  the  preacher  and  dis- 
puted his  doctrine,  and  after  that  he  was  more  closely  con- 
fined. He  died  in  prison  when  about  fifty  years  old. 

Profoundly  influenced  by  Valer  was  Juan  Gil,  better 
known  as  Dr.  Egidio,  who  was  born  in  Arragon,  had 
greatly  distinguished  himself  as  a  student  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Alcala  and  had  become  canon  of  the  cathedral  at 
Seville  about  1537.  Here  he  was  already  attracting  notice 
as  a  skilled  theologian  and  a  speaker  of  unusual  gifts,  but 
was  discouraged  as  to  the  fruits  of  his  preaching.  Valer 
and  he  got  together  somehow,  and  the  intrepid  lay  evan- 
gelist told  Gil  that  his  preaching  lacked  the  true  gospel 
element.  Egidio  began  to  study  the  Bible  more,  and  soon 
his  preaching  took  on  a  new  character.  It  became  warm, 
evangelical,  truly  eloquent;  and  crowds  attended  his  ser- 
mons. His  eloquence  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of  the 
emperor  Charles  V.,  who  proposed  to  make  him  bishop  of 
Tortosa.  Then  the  opposition  broke  out.  It  was  recalled 
that  Egidio  had  visited  his  friend  Valer  in  prison  and  had 
written  an  earnest  apology  and  plea  for  that  heretic;  it 
was  declared  that  his  so  popular  sermons  were  charged 
with  the  Lutheran  heresy,  and  that  he  was  misleading  the 
people.  He  was  tried,  but  though  nothing  was  certainly 
proved  against  him  he  was  condemned  as  a  suspect,  de- 
posed and  imprisoned  for  a  year.  Some  say  he  recanted, 
but  he  spent  his  imprisonment  in  writing  some  commen- 
taries and  other  works,  and  the  story  of  his  public  recan- 
tation is  probably  a  perversion  of  the  facts.  He  seems  to 
have  been  set  at  liberty  several  years  before  his  death  and 
to  have  preached  a  little  in  retired  places ;  but  his  public 
ministry  was  cut  short  by  his  condemnation.  He  died  in 

1556. 

There  were  two  successors  of  Egidio  at  Seville  who 
likewise,  with  more  or  less  clearness,  preached  the  doc- 
trines of  reform.  Ponce  de  la  Fuente  was  learned,  elo- 
quent and  cautious,  avoiding  open  attack  upon  the  Roman 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         453 

errors  but  preaching  the  evangelical  doctrines.  A  writing 
of  his,  which  he  frankly  acknowledged,  was  found;  and 
it  contained  such  plain  teaching  of  Protestant  views  that 
he  was  condemned  and  imprisoned.  After  two  years  of 
confinement  he  died.  After  him  came  Gregorio  Ruiz,  who 
also  preached  evangelical  views;  but  warned  by  the  fate 
of  his  predecessors  he  was  less  open  and  pronounced  about 
it,  and  managed  to  escape  the  Inquisition.  Sad  was  the 
fate  of  Carranza,  archbishop  of  Toledo,  who  had  taken 
a  prominent  part  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  but  was  later 
accused  of  Lutheranism,  and  after  seventeen  years  of 
humiliations,  trials  and  imprisonments  died  at  Rome  in 
1576.  Along  with  him  should  be  mentioned  Augustino 
Cazalla  (1510-1559)  who  was  long  a  pupil  under  Car- 
ranza, then  studied  with  distinction  at  Alcala.  He  was 
endowed  with  oratorical  gifts  and  was  made  court 
preacher  to  Charles  V.  in  1542.  He  passed  nine  years 
with  the  emperor  in  Germany  and  imbibed  Protestant 
views.  On  his  return  to  Spain  he  was  preacher  at  Valla- 
dolid  and  undertook  to  introduce  the  new  views  there. 
But  he  was  not  the  man  for  a  genuine  reformer,  and 
though  he  gained  some  converts  and  preached  with  zeal 
for  awhile,  he  was  induced  under  torture  to  renounce  his 
Protestantism.  After  death  his  remains  were  exhumed 
and  burnt  by  the  Inquisition.  With  him  were  associated 
some  others  at  Valladolid.  But  in  all  Spain  the  officers 
of  the  Inquisition  were  alert,  and  the  persecution  of  those 
who  dared  to  teach  the  Lutheran  heresy  was  vigorous  and 
severe.  Reform  preaching  could  not  flourish  there. 

A  few  words,  however,  must  be  said  concerning  the 
Spanish  exiles  who  taught  and  preached  in  other  places 
the  doctrines  that  were  so  cruelly  suppressed  at  home. 
Earliest  among  these  was  the  celebrated  Juan  Valdez  (c. 
1490-1541),  whose  work  at  Naples  was  notably  influen- 
tial in  promoting  the  Reformation  in  Italy.  He  and  his 
twin  brother  Alfonso  were  of  excellent  Spanish  family 
at  Cuenca,  where  they  were  born  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  They  had  good  instruction,  ex- 
hibited great  love  of  learning  and  were  among  the  most 
distinguished  Spanish  humanists.  Alfonso  held  impor- 
tant official  positions  in  the  court  of  Charles  V.,  was  often 
with  the  emperor  in  Germany,  but  had  no  sympathy  for 


454  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Luther  and  his  work.  Juan,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
a  very  decided  humanist  and  a  real  friend  of  Erasmus, 
advanced  very  far  beyond  the  Erasmian  ideas  of  reform, 
and  was  almost  a  Protestant.  He  was  not  a  preacher,  but 
his  religious  activity,  his  theological  works,  and  his  in- 
fluence upon  preachers  and  others  in  Italy  were  so  great 
that  he  claims  notice  here.  Some  time  between  1530  and 
1535  he  left  Spain  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Naples, 
where  he  does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  official  or  business 
relations,  but  to  have  lived  on  his  income  and  studied  and 
taught  at  his  pleasure.  He  was  a  sort  of  mystic  as  well  as 
reformer.  He  put  his  Hebrew  learning  to  use  by  translat- 
ing the  Psalms  into  Spanish,  and  his  Greek  by  translating 
Paul's  Epistles  and  the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  He  was  a 
man  of  lovely  character,  and  attracted  a  large  number 
of  friends,  especially  of  pious  and  learned  persons  of 
both  sexes.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  teach  the  evangelical 
views  of  Christianity,  and  his  influence  on  several  notable 
Italian  preachers  we  shall  have  occasion  to  recall  later. 

Juan  Diaz  was  a  brilliant  and  promising  young  re- 
former who  early  came  to  Germany.  He  was  welcomed 
and  beloved  by  Butzer  at  Strasburg,  and  much  was 
hoped  from  him  in  the  way  of  influencing  his  country- 
men, but  he  was  followed  by  his  brother,  a  fanatical 
Catholic,  who,  failing  in  his  effort  to  bring  him  back  to 
the  old  faith,  betrayed  him  and  led  him  to  his  death  at 
the  hands  of  an  assassin.  There  were  also  two  brothers 
Enzinas  (called  also  Dryander),  who,  in  Holland  and 
Germany,  were  distinguished  as  upholders  of  reform 
views.  Later  was  Juan  Perez,  who  had  been  associated 
with  Egidio  and  others  at  Seville,  but  left  Spain  in  1551, 
and  came  to  Geneva,  where  he  was  pastor  of  the  Spanish 
Protestant  refugees,  afterwards  was  pastor  at  Blois,  in 
France,  and  later  still  was  chaplain  of  the  now  widowed 
Duchess  of  Ferrara  at  Montargis.  Useful  in  many  ways 
his  most  distinguished  service  was  his  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  Spanish. 

The  last  to  be  mentioned  is  the  fruitful  and  learned 
author,  Cipriano  de  Valera,  who  was  born  at  Seville 
about  1532,  early  fell  under  the  influence  of  Egidio,  fled 
to  Geneva  in  1557,  thence  went  to  other  parts  of  Switzer- 
land, to  England,  and  to  Holland.  He  was  for  three 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         455 

years  pastor  of  the  Spanish  refugees  in  London,  and 
tried  by  writings  to  spread  reformed  opinions  in  Spain. 

In  Italy  the  Reformation  had  a  similar  course  to  that  in 
Spain;  a  humanistic  impulse,  a  reform  party  within  the 
church,  and  a  persecuted  and  exiled  little  band  of  true 
reformers.1  Several  of  these  are  worthy  of  a  longer 
account  than  can  here  be  given  to  them.  Paolo  Ver- 
gerio  was  a  lawyer  of  ability  at  Capo  d'  Istria,  but,  los- 
ing his  wife,  he  came  to  Rome  and  entered  the  service 
of  the  church.  In  1532  he  was  papal  nuncio  in  Germany 
and  had  interviews  with  Luther,  without  yet  becoming 
a  Protestant.  Returning  to  Italy  he  preached  awhile  at 
Naples  and  was  made  bishop  of  his  native  town.  In 
1540  he  was  in  France  with  Cardinal  Este,  and  was  sent 
by  Francis  I.  to  the  diet  at  Worms,  where  he  met  Mel- 
anchthon  and  Butzer,  and  probably  Calvin  also.  He  was 
now  much  in  accord  with  the  reformers,  but  did  not  as 
yet  openly  avow  his  opinions.  He  returned  to  his  dio- 
cese and  preached  them  among  his  people.  Called  to 
account,  he  appealed  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  but  was 
denied  a  hearing  and  his  case  was  remanded  to  the  court 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Venice.  Vergerio  refused  to  appear 
before  that  tribunal,  and  after  awhile,  being  more  and 
more  hunted,  he  left  Italy  and  wrent  to  the  south  of 
France,  where  he  preached  his  views  more  boldly  and 
became  very  bitter  against  Rome.  In  1553  he  was  in- 
vited by  the  Duke  of  Wurttemburg  to  Tubingen.  He 
travelled  in  other  parts  of  Germany  at  intervals,  and  died 
at  Tubingen  in  1565.  He  was  rather  intemperate  in  his 
preaching  after  he  left  Italy,  and  during  his  earlier  career 
was  perhaps  not  wholly  free  from  dissembling  his  views 
for  personal  safety. 

Another  reformer  was  Pietro  Carnesecchi,  of  noble 
Florentine  family,  and  the  friend  of  Cosimo  and  Catha- 
rine dei  Medici.  He  was  honored  with  various  church 

'Besides  numerous  general  authorities  of  various  sorts,  I  have 
had  opportunity  to  consult  Tiraboschi's  accounts  of  Vermigli  and 
Ochino  in  his  famous  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  Vol.  X. 
(Milan  ed.).  Karl  Benrath's  satisfactory  monograph,  Bernardino 
Ochino  von  Siena  (of  which  there  is  also  an  Engl.  translation) 
is  the  standard  work  on  Ochino.  Their  sojourn  in  England  gives 
occasion  for  fine  articles  in  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  on  both  Vermigli 
and  Ochino. 


456  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

offices,  and  was  prothonotary  under  Clement  VII.  But, 
disgusted  with  the  corruptions  of  the  papal  court,  he  left 
Rome  and  travelled  in  various  parts  of  Italy,  teaching 
and  preaching.  He  was  a  man  of  kindly  bearing  and 
manners,  and  was  cordially  received  everywhere.  He 
came  to  Naples,  and  was  among  those  who  received  in- 
struction and  help  from  Juan  Valdez,  the  pious  Spanish 
scholar,  but  was  not  yet  ready  to  break  with  Rome.  He 
was  a  friend  of  Cardinal  Pole,  and  perhaps  was  hopeful 
of  seeing  reforms  carried  out  in  the  church.  He  paid 
two  visits  to  France,  and  from  the  second,  having  become 
more  pronounced,  he  returned  to  Italy  and  remained  for 
awhile  at  Venice.  Finally  he  came  once  more  to  Flor- 
ence, where  the  Medici  tried  to  shield  and  save  him,  but 
having  at  last  openly  avowed  Protestant  principles,  he 
fell  under  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisition  and  was  exe- 
cuted. 

More  important  than  either  of  these  was  Pietro  Mar- 
tire  Vermigli,  who  was  born  of  good  parents  at  Florence 
in  1500.  His  father  was  an  admirer  of  Savonarola,  and 
named  his  son  for  St.  Peter  the  Martyr,  honored  among 
Dominicans.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  Pietro  entered  the 
Dominican  order  and  distinguished  himself  for  diligence 
in  study,  piety  and  eloquence.  He  was  early  appointed  to 
teach  and  preach.  While  preaching  with  great  acceptance 
at  Naples,  he  came  under  the  influence  of  Juan  Valdez, 
and  adopted  decidedly  evangelical  sentiments.  At  Lucca 
he  began  openly  to  preach  his  new  views,  and  with  such 
success  that  he  soon  fell  under  the  ban  of  the  Inquisition, 
and  was  a  marked  man.  Being  at  Florence  in  1542,  he 
foresaw  what  would  befall  him,  and  decided  to  escape. 
He  fled  with  a  companion  to  Switzerland,  and  was  first 
at  Zurich,  then  at  Basel,  and  was  finally  at  Strasburg 
with  Butzer.  Capito's  death  had  left  a  vacancy  there, 
and  Vermigli  for  several  years  filled  the  post  of  lec- 
turer in  theology  at  Strasburg.  In  1547  he  was  invited 
by  Cranmer,  along  with  Ochino,  to  become  professor  of 
theology  at  Oxford,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  credit 
till  the  Catholic  reaction  under  Mary  forced  him  to  leave 
England. 

Vermigli  then  returned  to  Strasburg,  and  later  went 
to  Zurich,  where  he  died  in  1562.  Vermigli  was  a  man 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         457 

of  pure  character,  fine  learning",  and  of  good  gifts  as  a 
speaker.  His  enemies  could  find  fault  only  with  his  doc- 
trine. Even  Tiraboschi,  who  writes  as  a  Catholic,  admits 
that  he  was  a  pious  and  learned  man,  far  removed 
from  the  "  arrogance  and  fury  of  Luther,"  whose  chief 
fault  was  that  he  "  undertook  to  defend  and  sustain  the 
worse  cause." 

The  most  powerful  preacher  among  the  Italian  reform- 
ers was  the  celebrated  Bernardino  Ochino  (c.  1487- 
1564),  who  was  born  at  Siena,  and  named  for  the  fa- 
mous preaching  saint  of  a  former  age.  Ochino  was  not 
his  family  name,  but  how  he  got  his  surname  and  rts  sig- 
nificance are  matters  of  dispute.  Not  much  is  known  of 
his  childhood  and  youth.  He  early  joined  the  Francis- 
can order  in  the  branch  of  Observants,  and  later  passed 
into  the  more  strict  ascetic  branch  of  the  Capuchins.  He 
was  twice  elected  general  of  his  order,  the  second  time 
much  against  his  will.  Ochino,  following  his  natural 
bent  as  well  as  conviction,  interpreted  strictly  the  prin- 
ciple of  his  order  in  regard  to  preaching,  and  early  and 
continuously  devoted  himself  to  that  work.  He  preached 
with  power  and  acceptance  in  many  of  the  cities  of  Italy, 
and  his  services  were  in  great  demand  for  the  special 
church  seasons.  His  strict  life  and  fervid  zeal  also  won 
for  him  the  reputation  of  sanctity.  After  he  went  over  to 
Protestantism  the  Catholics  (even  Tiraboschi)  have  rep- 
resented his  early  piety  as  hypocrisy,  but  though  he  was 
a  man  of  strong  impulses  and  perhaps  of  some  incon- 
stancy, there  is  no  sufficient  reason  to  doubt  his  sincerity 
and  earnestness.  In  1538  he  came  for  the  first  time  to 
Venice,  where  he  made  a  deep  impression,  not  only  on 
the  crowds  of  people  who  came  to  his  sermons,  but  on  the 
upper  and  learned  classes  also.  The  'eminent  humanist, 
Cardinal  Bembo,  testified  in  many  extant  letters  to  the 
wonderful  ability  of  Ochino  as  a  preacher,  and  had  him 
to  come  back  to  Venice  the  next  year  and  after.  Among 
other  things  Bembo  is  quoted  as  saying,1  "  I  confess  that 
I  have  never  heard  anyone  preach  more  usefully  and 
more  savingly  than  he.  .  .  He  reasons  very  differently 
and  in  a  much  more  Christian  way  than  all  others  who 
have  ascended  the  pulpit  in  my  days,  with  more  of  living 
1  Tiraboschi,  Vol.  X.,  p.  539  seg. 


458  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

grace  and  love,  and  with  better  and  more  acceptable 
topics." 

Another  Catholic  contemporary,  quoted  by  Benrath, 
declares  that  Ochino  "  left  out  the  wordy  war  of  the 
Scholastics,  which  others  brought  into  the  pulpit,  and 
preached  with  spirit  and  warmth ; "  and  an  enthusiastic 
hearer  said,  "  He  might  even  move  stones  to  tears." 
Other  such  testimonials  sustain  the  judgment  of  Benrath 
that  Italy  had  had  no  such  preacher  since  Savonarola. 
Nine  of  these  early  sermons  were  published  at  Venice  in 
1539,  and,  judging  from  the  extended  extracts  given  by 
Benrath,  and  his  good  discussion  of  them,  and  making 
the  necessary  allowances  for  the  difference  between  print- 
ing and  delivery,  they  sustain  Ochino's  reputation.  They 
are  not  unlike  contemporary  sermons  in  form,  have  a 
good  deal  of  Scripture  quotation,  well  handled,  and  are 
given  in  a  plain,  popular  style,  with  fervor,  practical 
point,  and  a  spiritual  aim. 

Ochino's  conversion  to  Protestantism  was  not  surpris- 
ing. Already  his  preaching  sounded  out  the  evangelical 
note  of  repentance  and  faith,  as  opposed  both  to  the 
moral  decay  and  the  work-righteousness  of  the  time. 
During  his  several  preaching  engagements  at  Naples, 
along  from  1536  to  1540,  he  was  much  associated  with 
Valdez  and  Vermigli,  as  with  kindred  spirits,  and  doubt- 
less received  decided  influence  from  them.  His  preach- 
ing after  this  began  to  show  more  and  more  of  the  re- 
formatory element.  At  Venice,  early  in  1542,  he  es- 
poused the  cause  of  a  preacher  who  had  been  punished 
for  proclaiming  evangelical  opinions,  and  in  the  Lent 
of  that  year  Ochino  himself  more  distinctly  and  power- 
fully set  forth  the  main  truths  of  the  Reformation.  This 
led  the  Catholic  authorities  to  action.  He  was  sum- 
moned to  Rome  "  on  matters  of  importance."  He  hesi- 
tated, but  decided  to  go,  delaying  first  at  Bologna  and 
then  at  Florence.  It  became  more  and  more  evident  to 
him  and  his  friends  that  if  he  went  to  Rome  he  must 
either  renounce  his  convictions  or  be  put  to  death.  At 
Florence  he  met  Vermigli,  who  had  already  determined 
to  leave  Italy.  Ochino,  after  a  final  struggle,  decided  to  do 
likewise,  and  in  a  few  days  after  Vermigli  he  too  fled. 

The  rest  of  his  life  was  full  of  vicissitude,  and  its  close 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          459 

pathetic  in  the  extreme,  but  we  can  only  give  here  a  very 
brief  summary  of  the  remainder  of  his  days.  Ochino 
came  to  Geneva,  where,  favored  by  Calvin  and  the  coun- 
cil, he  preached  to  the  Italian  refugees,  wrote  some  books, 
and  published  some  sermons  for  distribution  in  Italy. 
They  naturally  show  now,  along  with  his  accustomed  fire, 
more  of  polemic  against  Rome  and  more  firmness  in  the 
reformed  doctrines.  After  about  two  years  in  Geneva 
Ochino  came,  after  stopping  a  little  at  Basel  and  Stras- 
burg,  to  Augsburg,  where,  in  1545,  he  became  pastor  of 
the  Italian  refugees,  and  labored  as  pastor,  author  and 
preacher  till,  in  1547,  he  and  Vermigli,  both  at  Cranmer's 
invitation,  came  to  Oxford  as  professors.  The  reaction 
under  Mary  drove  them  both  away,  and  Ochino  came 
back,  first  to  Basel  and  then  to  Zurich.  He  was  now 
quite  old,  and  in  his  later  writings  and  teachings  had 
broached  opinions  on  the  person  of  Christ  and  on  the 
Trinity  that  were  somewhat  doubtful,  though  it  is  not 
proved  that  he  held,  as  accused,  decided  Socinian  views 
on  these  subjects.  Further,  though  after  his  flight  from 
Italy  he  had  married,  and  there  never  was  any  just  im- 
putation upon  his  own  life,  he  had  in  conversation  and 
in  a  published  dialogue  on  marriage  let  fall  some  expres- 
sions that  seemed  to  admit  in  a  speculative  way  the  ad- 
missibility  of  polygamy  in  certain  cases.  These  views, 
exaggerated  no  doubt  and  largely  misunderstood,  even 
by  such  men  as  Beza  and  Bullinger,  brought  Ochino  into 
suspicion  and  disfavor  with  the  Protestant  leaders.  The 
Zurich  council  finally  denied  him  a  place  as  preacher  and 
advised  him  to  leave.  In  his  old  age,  thus  discredited, 
and  cumbered  with  his  family,  he  turned  to  friends  that 
he  had  among  the  Italian  fugitives  in  Poland,  and  went 
thither,  hoping  to  find  refuge  and  a  place  to  work  on  for 
his  few  years  more  of  life.  His  old  Catholic  enemies  in 
Italy  rejoiced  over  Ochino's  dismissal  from  Zurich  as 
evidence  of  his  thorough  apostasy  and  untrustworthiness, 
and  as  corroboration  of  their  many  slanders  against  him. 
Nor  did  their  enmity  stop  here,  but  they  procured  the 
enactment  of  an  ordinance  by  the  King  of  Poland  forbid- 
ding anti-Catholics  of  foreign  birth  to  settle  and  teach  in 
his  dominions.  And  thus  once  more  the  poor  old  man 
was  a  fugitive.  Some  obscurity  rests  over  the  fate  of  his 


460  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

family  and  over  the  details  of  his  own  closing  days,  but 
it  appears  that  he  died  alone  at  Schlackau,  in  Moravia, 
toward  the  end  of  the  year  1564.  It  was  a  sad  ending 
to  what  was  in  many  ways  a  brilliant  and  noble  career. 
Faults,  no  doubt,  Ochino  had,  and  it  would  be  unsafe  to 
say  that  the  judgment  of  his  critics  was  utterly  without 
foundation;  but  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  devotion  of 
his  life  to  his  views  of  truth,  as  to  the  earnestness  and 
sincerity  of  his  labors,  and  as  to  his  distinguished  ability 
as  a  preacher. 

5.    REFORMATORY  PREACHERS  IN  EASTERN  EUROPE. 

In  the  parts  of  Europe  which  lay  immediately  to  the 
east  of  the  centers  of  the  Reformation  there  were  not 
wanting  preachers  of  character  and  ability,  who  set  forth 
the  Word  of  God  in  the  spirit  and  methods  peculiar  to 
the  reformers.  Few,  if  any,  however,  were  distinguished 
by  commanding  powers  in  the  pulpit,  or  have  as  preach- 
ers secured  a  world-wide  and  lasting  fame.  We  may 
mention  a  few  of  the  better  known  men  in  connection 
with  their  countries. 

In  Bohemia  the  followers  of  Huss  became  divided,  but 
those  who  remained  nearest  to  his  aims  and  spirit  seem 
to  have  been  among  the  Bohemian  brethren  in  the  later 
fifteenth  century.  Among  these  Rokytsana  and  Chelchit- 
sky  were  leaders  and  preachers,  and  after  them  Matthias 
of  Kunewald.  Among  their  successors  the  doctrines  of 
Luther  received  recognition,  but  no  great  preachers  were 
developed.  We  must  not  forget,  however,  the  excellent 
German  preacher  at  Jaoachimsthal,  John  Mathesius 
(1504-1565),  the  pupil  and  friend  of  Luther,  who  spent 
all  his  working  life  in  this  pastorate.  He  was  a  much 
loved  pastor  and  a  studious,  earnest  and  instructive 
preacher.  Though  a  learned  scholar,  he  knew  how  to 
speak  to  the  people  and  give  them  in  lively  images,  com- 
parisons, proverbs  and  for  the  most  part,  in  simple  style, 
sound  instruction  from  his  pulpit.  His  seventeen  bio- 
graphical sermons  on  Luther  are  unique  in  their  way, 
and  are  among  the  most  valued  sources  for  the  life  of  the 
great  reformer. 

Two  Austrians,  Primus  Truber  and  Hans  Steinberger, 
are  mentioned  as  having  preached  with  some  success  the 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         461 

doctrines  of  the  Reformation  in  their  own  country  and 
in  Hungary.  But  the  leading  place  among  Hungarian 
reformers  is  held  by  Matthias  Biro  Devay  (died  c.  1547), 
who  is  called  the  "  Hungarian  Luther."  Devay  was  born 
of  good  Hungarian  family  at  Siebenburgen  toward  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  After  childhood  he  studied 
at  Cracow,  and  was  a  monk  and  priest  in  the  Roman 
church  till  as  late  as  1527.  Meantime,  in  spite  of  severe 
repression,  the  reformed  views  had  been  making  some 
headway  in  Hungary.  At  Ofen,  now  Buda-Pest,  the  fa- 
mous Protestant  scholar  and  teacher,  Simon  Grynaeus, 
later  settled  at  Basel,  had  taught  for  awhile,  but  had  been 
forced  out  because  of  his  religious  views.  Here,  also, 
Paul  Speratus,  who  had  been  driven  from  Vienna,  had 
preached.  Devay  became  much  inclined  to  the  Lutheran 
opinions,  and  in  1529  went  to  Wittenberg  to  study  with 
Luther  and  Melanchthon.  After  two  years  he  returned 
to  Ofen,  but  his  activity  was  so  great  that  the  Catholics 
used  their  power  to  have  him  sent  away.  He  labored 
in  several  places,  suffered  several  imprisonments,  and, 
finally,  went  on  another  visit  to  Germany  and  extended 
it  to  Switzerland,  where  he  became  more  inclined  to  the 
Swiss  ideas  of  the  Lord's  Supper  than  to  Luther's.  Re- 
turning to  Hungary,  he  labored  in  various  ways  and 
places  till  his  death,  about  1547.  No  sermons  of  Devay 
have  come  down,  but  he  was  diligent  in  preaching,  and 
doubtless  preached  with  power. 

In  Poland  there  were  Italian  refugees,  Vergerio  among 
them,  who  preached  the  Reformation;  and,  besides  the 
orthodox,  there  were  also  followers  of  the  Socini.  But 
the  best-known  native  reformer  was  the  famous  scholar 
and  theologian,  John  a  Lasco  (1499-1560),  who  came  of 
excellent  family  at  Warsaw,  was  well  educated,  and  for 
a  time  served  as  priest  in  his  native  land.  About  1539 
he  became  a  Protestant,  and,  having  to  leave  Poland,  he 
labored  for  about  ten  years  as  pastor  at  Emden,  in  Fries- 
land.  Thence  he  came  in  1549  to  England,  where  he  was 
pastor  of  a  church  of  refugee  Protestants  of  various  na- 
tionalities in  London.  While  in  England  he  was  much 
engaged  in  literary  work  for  the  Reformation,  and  was 
associated  both  with  the  English  Protestants  and  with 
Butzer,  Vermigli  and  other  foreign  reformers,  till  these 


462  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

were  forced  to  leave  by  the  change  of  policy  on  the  acces- 
sion of  Queen  Mary.  A  Lasco  came  to  Denmark,  then 
to  his  old  home  at  Emden,  and  lastly  to  Poland,  where, 
as  Superintendent  of  the  Reformed  churches,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  labor  to  the  end  of  his  days  in  his  native  land. 
He  was  more  of  a  writer,  scholar,  commentator  and 
church  organizer  than  preacher,  and  no  sermons  remain 
to  give  a  fair  notion  of  his  pulpit  powers.  But  as  pas- 
tor and  reformer  he  was  active  in  preaching,  and  his 
other  work  shows  that  he  was  a  thinker  and  expounder  of 
excellent  ability. 

Albert  of  Brandenberg,  who  held  Prussia  for  the  Teu- 
tonic Knights,  on  becoming  Protestant,  made  the  prov- 
ince a  dukedom,  married  and  founded  a  family.  Bishop 
George  of  Polentz  aided  Albert  in  introducing  the 'Re- 
formation. From  him  several  sermons,  of  no  special 
importance,  remain.  But  Luther  sent  several  preachers 
to  aid  in  the  work,  the  principal  one  of  whom  was 
John  Briessmann  (1488-1549),  who  did  much  by  word 
and  work  to  establish  the  Reformation  in  Prussia.  After 
him  came  the  contentious  Osiander,  from  Nuremburg, 
but  his  polemical  nature  and  preaching  were  not  of  the 
highest  value  to  the  cause. 

More  influential  and  notable  as  a  preacher  was  Paul 
Spretter,  Latinized  into  Speratus  (1484-1551).  He  was 
a  native  of  Swabia,  was  educated  in  Italy  and  at  Paris, 
and  early  embraced  the  Protestant  doctrines.  He  preached 
at  various  places  in  southern  Germany  with  good  effect, 
and  as  early  as  1521  was  found  at  Vienna,  where  in  reply 
to  a  monk  who  had  defended  celibacy  Speratus  preached 
a  powerful  sermon,  in  which  he  not  only  showed  that  the 
Catholic  practice  was  contrary  to  Scripture,  but  also  took 
occasion  to  attack  the  whole  system  of  vows  as  held  in 
the  Roman  church.  His  boldness  stirred  up  the  Catholic 
authorities,  and  he  was  summoned  to  answer  charges  of 
heresy,  but  instead  of  appearing  for  trial  he  left  Vienna 
and  was  promptly  excommunicated.  He  was  called  to 
Ofen  (Buda-Pest),  but  the  opposition  prevented  his  set- 
tling there,  so  he  turned  about  and,  as  he  passed  through 
Moravia,  going  to  Germany,  he  stopped  at  Iglau,  where 
he  was  persuaded  to  remain  and  preach.  This  he  did 
so  well  that  he  bound  the  Iglau  congregation  to  him 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         463 

with  an  enduring  affection,  but  also  roused  the  deter- 
mined opposition  of  the  Catholic  party.  This  led  the 
authorities  after  several  years  to  send  him  away,  but  he 
held  the  love  of  his  flock,  and  they  had  a  mutual  com- 
pact that  he  should  serve  them  again  if  better  times  per- 
mitted. So,  in  1523,  Speratus  came  to  Wittenberg,  where 
in  various  ways  he  aided  Luther  and  the  others  till  in  the 
next  year  he  was  called  to  Konigsberg,  in  Prussia.  Go- 
ing by  Iglau  he  was  released  by  his  old  flock  there  and 
took  up  his  residence  as  court  preacher  in  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  duchy  of  Prussia.  For  six  years  he  was 
court  preacher  there,  and  then  was  appointed  by  Albert 
bishop  (or  superintendent)  of  Pomerania.  Altogether 
he  labored  for  twenty-seven  years  in  Prussia,  and  did  a 
great  work  as  organizer  of  the  churches,  hymn-writer 
and  popular  and  beloved  preacher.  The  Protestant  cause 
in  Prussia  owed  much  to  the  wise,  patient  and  faithful 
labors  of  Paul  Speratus. 

6.    REFORMATORY  PREACHERS  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE 

In  the  countries  to  the  north  of  the  centers  of  Protes- 
tantism there  was  progress  in  the  spread  of  reformatory 
opinions,  and  there  were  preachers  to  proclaim  and  teach 
them.  These  preachers  labored  in  the  spirit  and  methods 
of  the  German  and  Swiss  reformers,  those  in  the  Nether- 
lands, at  first  Lutheran,  becoming  at  last  Calvinistic. 

Among  the  preachers  of  the  Low  Countries  mere  men- 
tion *  may  be  made  of  Jan  Arends,  Peter  Gabriel,  Nicho- 
las Scheltius,  and  of  Peter  Datheen,  who  is  specially 
noted  by  Van  Oosterzee  and  Christlieb  as  a  popular 
preacher  of  excellent  gifts  and  wide  influence.  There 
was  also  at  Oudenarde  a  man  of  special  merit,  Herman 
Modet  (c.  1566),  who  preached  on  one  occasion  in  a 
great  assembly  near  Ghent,  where  in  their  hunger  for  the 
Word  of  God  the  crowded  people  listened  to  him  for 
hours  at  a  time.  The  pastor  at  Utrecht,  Guibert  Duis- 
huis,  was  also  a  man  of  influence,  and  in  his  doctrinal 
views  was  a  forerunner  of  the  later  Remonstrants. 

But  in  those  dreadful  days  of  persecution  and  trial, 
which  marked  the  early  history  of  the  Reformation  in 

Christlieb  in  Herzog,  as  before;  Van  Oosterzee  in  the  his- 
torical sketch  prefixed  to  his  Practical  Theology. 


464  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

the  Netherlands,  there  was  little  opportunity  for  the  de- 
velopment of  distinctive  pulpit  eloquence.  The  martyrs 
were  the  best  preachers.  The  story  of  one  of  the  earliest 
of  these  will  serve  as  a  pathetic  illustration  of  the  class.1 
Thus  runs  the  account  of  old  Gerard  Brandt,  the  his- 
torian of  the  Dutch  Reformation :  "  John  of  Backer,  who 
was  not  yet  twenty-seven  years  old,  was  tied  to  a  stake, 
strangled,  and  reduced  to  ashes,  in  the  month  of  August, 
1525.  He  suffered  death  for  having  preached  in  spite  of 
the  prohibitions,  and  because  he  was  married.  His  ex- 
aminers had  several  conferences  with  him  during  his  im- 
prisonment. They  undertook  to  prove  that  a  man  should 
submit  to  all  the  decrees  and  traditions  of  the  Romish 
Church,  that  heretics  should  be  repressed  and  extermi- 
nated by  the  sword,  and  that  priests  should  not  marry. 
The  preacher  answered  that  he  did  not  recognize  any 
other  rule  of  faith  than  Holy  Scripture,  and  that  it  was 
not  necessary  to  use  other  language  than  that  of  Scrip- 
ture itself  in  order  to  interpret  it ;  that  a  man  should  not 
rashly  violate  the  decrees  and  canons,  but  should  observe 
them  when  they  were  in  accord  with  the  Word  of  God; 
that  violence  should  not  be  employed  in  religion,  but 
rather  gentleness  and  force  of  arguments.  He  complained 
that  there  was  too  much  indulgence  for  the  unchastity  of 
priests,  while  chaste  and  honorable  marriage,  such  as 
God  approved,  would  not  be  tolerated.  .  .  .  On  the 
fifteenth  of  September  the  prisoner  was  degraded  from 
his  rank  [stripped  of  his  priest's  garments]  on  a  scaffold 
and  clothed  with  a  yellow  garment  and  hat  of  the  same 
color,  and  then  led  to  execution.  In  passing  before  the 
prison  where  a  number  of  persons  were  confined  for  the 
faith  he  cried,  in  a  loud  voice,  '  See,  my  brethren,  I  am 
ready  to  suffer  martyrdom.  Have  courage  as  faithful 
soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and,  encouraged  by  my  example, 
defend  the  truths  of  the  gospel  against  all  injustice.'  The 
prisoners  had  no  sooner  heard  these  words  than  they 
clapped  their  hands  and  made  great  shouts  of  triumph, 
and  to  honor  the  martyrdom  of  their  friend  they  sang 
the  Te  Deum,  the  Certamen  Martyrum,  the  hymn  O 
Bcata  Martyrum  Solemnia,  and  their  songs  did  not  cease 

1  From  the  abridged  French  edition  of  Gerard  Brandt's  His- 
tory of  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands,  Vol.  I.,  p.  27  ff. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         465 

till  the  martyr  had  expired.  When  he  was  tied  to  the 
stake  he  cried,  '  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory?  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  the  vic- 
tory of  Jesus  Christ.'  At  last  the  martyr  died,  after  hav- 
ing pronounced  these  words,  '  Lord  Jesus,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do.  O  son  of  God,  save 
me !  Have  mercy  on  me ! '  Such  was  the  end  of  John 
of  Backer.  He  was  the  first  who  suffered  martyrdom 
in  Holland  for  the  doctrine  of  Luther."  We  do  not 
know  how  much  or  how  well  this  young  man  may  have 
preached  before  this,  but  certainly  this  was  a  sermon  of 
supreme  eloquence;  and  the  bloody  work  of  persecution 
in  the  Netherlands  gave  only  too  frequent  and  sad  occa- 
sions for  many  such  sermons. 

In  Denmark  the  Reformation  early  gained  a  footing, 
and  John  Bugenhagen  was  called  by  King  Christian  to 
regulate  the  Lutheran  churches  there.  Among  the  na- 
tive preachers  are  mentioned  Hans  Tausen  (d.  I56I),1 
bishop  of  Ripen,  who  was  noted  for  his  "  fresh,  clear  and 
edifying  expositions  of  the  Scriptures  in  forcible  speech." 
His  contemporary,  Peter  Palladius  (d.  1560),  bishop  of 
Seeland,  is  also  named  as  a  preacher  of  popular  power. 
Thus  the  distinctive  type  of  Reformation  preaching  did 
not  lack  in  Denmark  its  able  representatives.  t 

In  Sweden  also  this  was  true,  and,  besides  others,  there 
were  the  brothers  Olaf  and  Laurent  Petri,  who  have 
been  called  "  the  Luther  and  Melanchthon  of  Sweden."  2 
Olaf  Petri  (1497-1552)  was  born  at  Erebro,  the  son  of 
a  blacksmith,  was  educated  among  the  Carmelite  friars, 
but  later  went  with  his  younger  brother,  Laurent,  to  Wit- 
tenberg, where  they  were  taught  by  Luther  and  the  other 
reformers,  and  came  back  to  labor  for  the  Reformation 
in  their  own  country.  Olaf  became  rector  of  a  school  at 
Strengnas  in  1523,  and  combined  preaching  with  his 
work.  Here  he  gained  a  helper  and  able  reformer  in  Lau- 
rent Andrse.  Later  Olaf  was  appointed  preacher  at  Stock- 
holm, from  whence  as  a  center  his  principal  work  was 
done.  He  was  a  fiery  and  sometimes  rash  and  imprudent 
man,  bringing  upon  himself  and  his  cause  the  usual  oppo- 
sition and  evils  resulting  from  that  temper  and  method. 

1  Christlieb,  op.  cit. 

2  Christlieb,  op.  cit.,  and  several  encyclopaedia  articles. 


466  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

But  he  was  brave  and  true,  and  a  preacher  both  of  learn* 
ing  and  popular  power.  There  remain  from  him  both 
sermons  and  expository  homilies  which  are  said  to  indi- 
cate ability  of  no  mean  order  in  the  pulpit. 

Of  a  different  stamp  was  the  younger  brother,  Laurent 
Petri  (1499-1573),  who  was  also  educated  at  Witten- 
berg, was  rather  more  of  a  scholar  than  Olaf,  and  de- 
cidedly of  a  milder  and  more  moderate  nature.  Gustavus 
Vasa  appointed  him  preacher  at  Upsala,  and  in  1531  made 
him  archbishop  there.  He  was  very  useful,  both  as 
preacher  and  prelate,  and  did  especially  valuable  service 
by  his  Bible  translations.  He  was  benevolent  and  con- 
ciliatory. From  him,  as  from  his  brother,  there  remain 
both  sermons  and  postils,  or  expository  homilies,  those  on 
the  Gospels  being  mentioned  as  of  considerable  excel- 
lence. 

7.    THE  ANABAPTISTS  AND  OTHER  SECTS  IN  VARIOUS 
COUNTRIES 

Besides  the  better  known  and  more  widely  influential 
preachers  who  represent  one  or  other  of  the  three  lead- 
ing phases — Lutheran,  Zwinglian,  Calvinistic — of  the  Re- 
formation in  Europe,  there  were  numerous  others,  be- 
longing to  smaller  sects,  or  representing  only  themselves 
and  their  following,  who  should  be  remembered.  Natu- 
rally, these  were  very  various  in  character,  doctrines  and 
abilities,  and  were  found  in  different  countries;  but  they 
may  better  be  considered  in  a  brief  treatment  together,  and 
thus  our  survey  of  the  reformation  preaching  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  may  be  concluded. 

Amid  many  persecutions  both  before  and  after  the 
time  of  the  Reformation  the  ancient  Waldensian  churches 
maintained  themselves  in  their  Piedmont  valleys.  We 
have  seen  how  Farel  and  Saunier  paid  their  synod  a  help- 
ful visit  in  1532  and  encouraged  them.  Other  reformers 
also  took  an  interest  in  them,  but  it  appears  that  not  until 
they  were  permitted  to  build  churches,  about  1555,  did 
preaching  among  them  begin  to  assume  a  more  dignified 
form  than  the  simple  hortatory  homilies  of  their  devo- 
tional meetings.  In  later  times  they  have  had  several 
preachers  of  note. 

It  was  not  surprising  that  the  Reformation  should  have 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          467 

given  encouragement  by  its  revolt  from  Rome  to  many 
fanatics  and  extremists  of  various  sorts.  Among  these 
were  some  men  of  decided  abilities  as  preachers  and  popu- 
lar leaders,  but  their  faults  and  excesses  hindered  their 
own  success,  and  also,  to  some  extent,  compromised  and 
greatly  embarrassed  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation. 
Among  the  more  extreme  may  be  named,  without  discus- 
sion, the  imprudent  Carlstadt,  whose  actions  were  a  great 
annoyance  to  Luther  and  the  rest;  the  so-called  Zwickau 
prophets,  who  believed  in  an  immediate  inspiration;  and 
the  ill-fated  Thomas  Miinzer,  who,  along  with  many 
hurtful  errors,  held  also  some  important  truths  and  led 
the  peasants'  uprising  to  disastrous  defeat.  Later  than 
these  were  the  so-called  "  Mad  Men  of  Minister,"  who 
disgraced  the  Anabaptist  name  and  cause  by  their  wild 
excesses,  and  who  carried  with  them — reluctantly  as  it 
seems  in  most  things — at  least  one  preacher  of  no  little 
eloquence  and  influence,  Bernard  Rothmann.  Others  who 
were  more  or  less  associated  with  the  Anabaptists  and 
had  some  talent  as  popular  preachers  were  Melchior 
Hoffman,  who  led  a  very  unsettled  life,  and  was  not  a 
man  of  much  culture,  but  yet  knew  how  to  reach  and  in- 
fluence people;  and  the  erratic  David  Joris  of  Holland, 
who  likewise  was  a  wanderer,  but  an  attractive  person- 
ality and  a  sensational  and  bold  speaker. 

The  name  Anabaptist  has  been  applied  with  little  dis- 
crimination to  a  variety  of  sectaries  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. It  was  not  a  name  of  their  own  choosing,  but  was 
bestowed  by  their  enemies  to  indicate  that  they  were  the 
rebaptizers,  those  who  insisted  that  all  who  had  received 
baptism  in  infancy  should,  on  conversion,  be  baptized 
again.  But  both  the  name,  and  the  conception  involved 
in  it,  does  an  injustice.  These  men  insisted  that  infant 
baptism  was  unscriptural  and  therefore  no  baptism  at  all, 
that  only  repentant  and  believing  persons  should  be  bap- 
tized upon  profession  of  faith.  But  of  those  who  adopted 
this  principle  not  all  held  the  same  views  in  other  respects. 
Especially  is  it  necessary  to  distinguish  the  fanatical  and 
revolutionary  element  from  the  more  conservative.  It  is 
not  just  to  charge  all  with  the  errors  and  excesses  of 
some,  and  it  is  only  historically  fair  to  recognize  that 
there  was  no  general  and  well  defined  body  of  Anabap- 


468  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

tists,  but  that  the  name  was  loosely  applied  to  many  dif- 
ferent varieties.  But  partisanry  is  not  discriminating,  and 
so  it  is  true  that  many  deserving  men  have  been  called 
by  this  name  of  reproach  and  accused  of  crimes  which 
they  reprobated. 

The  Swiss  Anabaptists  were  not  of  the  revolutionary 
character  of  Miinzer  and  the  men  of  Miinster,  but  they 
were  stout  in  their  opposition  to  infant  baptism  and  to 
the  union  of  church  and  state,  and  so  they  were  perse- 
cuted and  repressed  by  the  civil  authorities  under  the  ad- 
vice of  Zwingli  and  other  reformers. 

In  regard  to  preaching,  there  was  among  them  a  cus- 
tom of  mission,  itinerant  preaching — a  view  that  ordina- 
tion was  not  vitally  necessary,  and  that  lay  preaching, 
even  by  those  who  had  no  learning,  was  permissible.1 
Hence  we  find  among  the  Swiss  Anabaptists  some  who 
were  not  highly  educated,  but  yet  were  effective  preach- 
ers, as  Blaurock  and  others.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
Reublin,  Grebel  and  Mantz  were  cultivated  and  able  men 
and  strong  preachers.  In  Moravia,  Friesland  and  Hol- 
land, also,  there  were  not  a  few  preachers  of  good  learn- 
ing and  popular  power  among  these  persecuted  people. 
We  may  select  two  of  the  most  eminent  for  a  somewhat 
more  extended  notice — Hubmaier  and  Menno. 

Prominently  identified  with  both  the  Swiss  and  the 
Moravian  Anabaptists  was  the  scholarly  and  eloquent 
Balthasar  Hiibmaier  (d.  1528),  who  was  born  at  Fried- 
berg,  near  Augsburg,  about  1480.  He  studied  at  Frei- 
burg under  John  Eck,  taught  school  at  Schaffhausen  for 
awhile  to  help  pay  expenses  at  the  university,  and  in  1512 
followed  Eck  to  Ingolstadt,  where  he  was  for  a  time 
pastor  of  the  town  church  and  professor  in  the  university. 
His  preaching  power  was  already  recognized  and  he  was 
called  in  January,  1516,  to  be  cathedral  preacher  at  Re- 
gensburg,  where  he  worked  for  some  years.  One  token 
of  his  power  over  men  by  speech  was  the  fact  that  his 
preaching  against  the  Jews  led  to  their  being  banished 
from  the  town;  their  synagogue  was  destroyed,  and  on 
the  site  a  chapel  was  built  to  the  Virgin.  But  this  led  to 

1  My  colleague,  Dr.  W.  J.  McGlothlin,  has  brought  out  some  in- 
teresting facts,  including  this,  in  his  thesis— on  the  Bernese  Ana- 
baptists— presented  with  success  to  the  University  of  Berlin  for 
the  Doctorate  in  1902, 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          469 

pilgrimages  and  other  superstitious  excesses,  and  Hiib- 
maier  began  to  oppose  these  things.  Thus  he  was  mak- 
ing a  slight  beginning  toward  the  reformatory  doctrines. 
Some  opposition  developed  and  he  was  led  to  accept  a 
preaching  appointment  at  Waldshut  in  1521.  His  study 
of  the  Bible  and  of  Luther's  writings  accelerated  his  con- 
version to  the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  He  re- 
turned to  Regensburg  for  a  few  months,  but  his  preach- 
ing was  now  so  decidedly  reformatory  that  he  could  not 
remain  there,  and  came  back  again  to  Waldshut.  This 
town  was  under  the  Austrian  dominion,  but  was  near  the 
Swiss  border  and  not  far  from  important  places  in  Ger- 
many. During  this  second  and  more  extended  pastorate 
at  Waldshut  Hubmaier's  character  and  convictions  as  a 
reformer  became  settled.  His  reformatory  zeal  and  his 
powerful  preaching  began  to  tell,  and  his  work  resulted 
in  the  adoption  of  the  Reformation  by  the  church  and 
people  of  Waldshut  in  1524. 

Up  to  this  point  Hiibmaier  was  in  sympathy  with 
Zwingli,  and  the  Waldshut  reform  was  effected  in 
the  Swiss  mode.  But  about  now  the  question  of  in- 
fant baptism  began  to  agitate  the  Swiss  reformers. 
Zwingli  himself  entertained  for  a  while  serious  doubts 
as  to  the  rightfulness  of  the  practice.  QEcolampadius, 
too,  was  not  wholly  convinced.  Leo  Jud  long  wavered, 
and  the  gentle  Capito  could  always  see  that  there  were 
two  sides  to  the  Anabaptist  controversy.  The  ques- 
tion was  never  decided  on  its  merits,  but  imprudences 
on  the  part  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  their  stubborn  oppo- 
sition to  authority,  complicated  the  situation  and  made  it 
largely  a  semi-political  and  partisan  strife,  wherein  men's 
passions  were  aroused  to  punish  and  resist,  and  thus  dis- 
astrous results  followed.  Hiibmaier  early  became  con- 
vinced that  infant  baptism  was  contrary  to  Scripture,  and 
began  so  to  teach.  In  1525  he  received  baptism  at  the 
hands  of  William  Reublin,  and  led  the  majority  of  the 
Waldshut  church  to  adopt  the  Anabaptist  view  of  the 
Reformation.  Meantime  he  ably  held  his  own  with 
Zwingli,  CEcolampadius  and  others  in  discussing  the 
question,  both  orally  and  in  writings.  But  the  issue  went 
against  the  Anabaptists ;  they  were  compromised  with  the 
Peasants'  War,  and  its  disastrous  and  bloody  ending  hurt 


47°  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

their  cause.  Waldshut  lacked  now  the  sympathy  of 
Zurich,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  princes,  and,  being 
under  Austrian  control,  was  forcibly  subjected  to  the 
Catholic  party.  Thus  ended  the  Reformation  there,  and 
Hiibmaier  was  forced  to  flee.  Now  comes  a  dark  place 
in  his  career,  which  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  and  ex- 
plain. 

Hiibmaier  came  to  Zurich,  where  he  was  secretly  re- 
ceived by  friends,  but  was  discovered  by  the  authorities 
and  put  on  some  kind  of  trial.  It  is  said  that  he  asked 
the  privilege  of  making  a  public  recantation  of  his  Ana- 
baptist views,  and,  on  being  permitted  to  preach  for  this 
purpose  at  the  Grossmiinster,  he  played  false,  and,  in- 
stead of  renouncing  his  views,  proceeded  to  defend  them 
with  his  wonted  eloquence  and  cogency.  Afterwards, 
on  being  reproached  for  his  breach  of  promise  and  of 
propriety,  he  is  reported  to  have  said  that  it  must  have 
been  the  suggestion  of  the  devil  that  made  him  do  so. 
All  the  time  he  was  arguing  the  case  with  Zwingli  and 
others,  and  finally  it  is  claimed  that  he  did  renounce  his 
Anabaptist  views,  satisfied  the  Zurich  authorities,  and 
with  permission,  and  perhaps  pressure,  to  depart,  re- 
ceived from  them  money  for  his  journey,  and  left  the 
city.  If  the  statements  of  his  opponents  are  to  be  taken 
without  allowance,  Hiibmaier  certainly  does  not  appear 
well  in  this  affair.  But  his  side  of  the  controversy  has 
not  been  written,  and  from  a  statement  that  he  boasted  at 
Constance  of  having  come  off  victor  over  Zwingli  in  the 
arguments,  we  may  infer  that  his  alleged  recantation  at 
Zurich  was  more  apparent  than  real.  At  the  same  tims 
it  seems  impossible  to  acquit  him  of  some  insincerity  and 
diplomacy  in  the  trying  and  perilous  situation  in  which 
he  was  placed.  As  to  the  provision  of  his  travelling  ex- 
penses from  Zurich,  it  is  easy  to  suppose  that  the  authori- 
ties may  not  have  been  wholly  disinterested  in  helping 
the  redoubtable  champion  of  Anabaptism  to  get  away. 

After  brief  stops  at  Constance  and  other  places,  Hiib- 
maier  came  at  last,  in  July,  1526,  to  Nikolsburg,  in  Mo- 
ravia, where  the  Anabaptists  had  some  strength.  Here 
he  received  protection  from  a  nobleman,  who  sympathized 
with  the  Anabaptists,  and  was  enabled  to  set  up  a  print- 
ing press  and  publish  his  writings.  Here,  also,  he  was 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          471 

pastor  of  the  congregation,  and  speedily,  by  his  rare 
qualities  of  speech  and  persuasion,  brought  great  num- 
bers to  accept  his  views.  The  Anabaptist  cause  became 
very  strong  throughout  all  that  region.  But,  unhappily, 
some  rash  spirits  troubled  the  prosperity  of  the  move- 
ment, and  at  this  juncture  Moravia  passed  from  Bavarian 
to  Austrian  rule,  and  persecution  began.  Hubmaier  was 
promptly  called  to  account.  No  doubt  the  Catholic  op- 
position was  at  the  bottom,  and  it  was  a  religious  perse- 
cution, but  Hiibmaier's  work  at  Waldshut  gave  pretext 
for  accusing  him  of  having  occasioned  the  revolt  of  that 
city  and  of  complicity  in  the  peasant  uprising  of  1525. 
He  was  imprisoned,  and  after  various  ineffectual  efforts 
to  get  release,  but  bravely  and  immovably  refusing  to  re- 
tract his  religious  convictions,  he  was  condemned.  ,  So 
on  a  public  square  in  Vienna  he  was  burned,  March  10, 
1528,  his  faithful  wife  encouraging  him.  He  met  his  end 
with  a  martyr's  steadfastness;  and  his  noble  wife  a  few 
days  later  was  drowned  in  the  Danube. 

All  the  accounts  agree  that  Hubmaier  was  a  forcible 
and  eloquent  preacher.  CEcolampadius,  Vadian,  even 
Bullinger,  bear  emphatic  testimony  to  this  effect,  and  the 
results  of  his  work  at  every  place  where  he  served  as  pas- 
tor show  that  he  had  unusual  power  of  influencing  men 
to  action  by  his  preaching.  Among  his  writings  it  does 
not  appear  that  any  sermons  remain,  but  of  one  of  his 
works  Broadus  says,1  "  I  find  a  really  beautiful  address 
(A.D.  1525)  to  the  three  churches  of  Regensburg,  Ingol- 
stadt  and  Freiburg,  entitled  The  Sum  of  a  Truly  Chris- 
tian Life,  to  be  of  the  nature  of  a  sermon.  The  arrange- 
ment is  good  and  the  divisions  distinctly  stated.  He  is 
decidedly  vigorous  and  acute  in  argument,  making  very 
sharp  points.  The  style  is  clear  and  lively;  when  he 
has  begun  you  feel  drawn  along,  and  want  to  follow 
him." 

Another  man  of  great  popular  power  and  influence, 
commonly  reckoned  with  the  Anabaptists,  was  Menno 
Simons  (1492-1559),  whose  work  was  chiefly  in  Fries- 
land,  Holstein  and  the  adjoining  regions,  reaching  also 
into  Holland.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  sect  called 
Mennonites,  who  have  maintained  a  vigorous  life  to  this 
1  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  131. 


472  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

day,  and  have  a  considerable  following  in  the  United 
States.  Menno  was  born  in  Friesland,  educated,  and  be- 
came a  priest  and  a  preacher  of  considerable  force  in  the 
Catholic  church.  In  1531  he  became  parish  priest  in  his 
native  town  of  Witmarsum,  and  his  development  in  evan- 
gelical opinions  soon  afterwards  began.  About  this  time 
the  execution  of  a  man  for  holding  Anabaptist  views 
made  a  profound  impression  on  Menno,  and  led  him  to 
investigate  the  question  of  infant  baptism.  But  it  was 
only  after  several  years  that  he  became  sufficiently  con- 
vinced to  teach  these  views  publicly.  He  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  Miinster  fanatics,  nor  with  all  who  bore 
the  Anabaptist  name.  Carefully  and  earnestly  he  worked 
out  his  own  position  and  devoted  his  life  to  teaching  and 
spreading  the  views  which  he  believed  to  be  taught  by 
the  Word  of  God.  As  his  convictions  were  nearest  to 
those  held  by  the  larger  number  of  Anabaptists,  there 
was  no  impropriety  in  his  taking  charge  of  an  Anabap- 
tist church  at  Groningen  in  1537,  where  he  labored  for  a 
number  of  years,  not  only  in  his  own  congregation,  but, 
by  visits  and  numerous  writings,  in  the  adjoining  re- 
gions, and  even  beyond  them.  At  one  time  he  had  a 
discussion  with  the  eminent  theologian  John  a  Lasco, 
then  working  at  Emden,  in  Friesland.  The  debate  was 
characterized  by  both  ability  and  charity,  a  combination 
not  always  visible  in  religious  disputes  then  or  since. 
Later,  because  of  persecution,  Menno  removed  to  Wismar, 
and  finally  settled  in  Holstein,  where  he  spent  the  last 
twelve  years  of  his  active  life,  dying  in  1559. 

Menno  wrote  in  the  Low-German  (plattdeutsch)  dia- 
lect, but  his  writings  were  done  into  Dutch  and  other 
languages.  He  was  a  prolific  author,  and  many  of  his 
writings  remain.  There  do  not  appear  to  be  sermons, 
strictly  speaking,  among  them,  but  doubtless  many  are  the 
outgrowth  of  his  pulpit  work.  As  a  preacher  he  had  the 
character  of  a  mild  but  well-convinced  and  firm  defender 
of  his  views,  a  faithful  and  diligent  worker,  and  a  man 
of  eloquence  and  persuasive  power  over  people. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  preaching  of  the  sectaries,  with 
all  its  varieties,  was  true  to  the  fundamental  principle  of 
the  Reformation — the  sole  authority  of  the  Word  of  God 
as  the  basis  of  preaching  and  of  life  in  the  churches.  It 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         473 

also  exemplified  a  noble  care  for  the  religious  needs  of 
the  common  people,  and  displayed  a  popular  power  at 
least  not  less  striking  than  that  of  the  better  known  re- 
formers. Altogether  those  critical  years  of  reform  in  Eu- 
rope were  strenuous  in  conflict  and  in  toil,  and  through 
their  preachers  the  Word  of  God  came  to  the  people  with 
power. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

PREACHERS   OF   THE   REFORMATION   IN   ENGLAND  AND 
SCOTLAND 

Both  the  causes  and  character  of  the  Reformation  in 
Great  Britain  differed  in  many  important  respects  from 
those  of  the  movement  on  the  Continent,  and  yet  there 
was  necessarily  very  close  connection  and  sympathy  be- 
tween these  movements.  In  both  cases  the  relation 
between  the  Reformation  and  preaching  was  close  and 
vital.  Except  Wiclif,  there  was  in  England  no  great 
preacher  before  the  Reformation;  since  that  time  there 
have  been  no  preachers  in  all  the  world  who,  in  the  essen- 
tials of  true  pulpit  eloquence,  have  surpassed  the  Eng- 
lish Protestant  divines.  And,  whatever  may  be  the  explan- 
ation of  the  singular  fact,  it  is  true  that  no  English  Catho- 
lic preacher  has  ever  occupied  corresponding  rank  with 
his  great  Protestant  contemporaries  in  his  own  land  or 
with  his  more  noted  Romanist  brethren  in  others.  Cardi- 
nal Newman  is  no  exception,  because  his  best  pulpit  work 
belongs,  not  to  his  Catholic,  but  to  his  Anglican  days.  In 
Scotland  the  case  is  exactly  parallel;  no  great  preacher 
before  the  Reformation,  since  then,  in  the  Protestant 
bodies,  a  multitude.  It  is  idle  to  conjecture  what  might 
have  been  the  influence  on  preaching  if  a  purified  Roman- 
ism had  been  the  modern  type  of  British  Christianity,  but 
the  fact  is  that  the  Reformation  produced  the  modern 
British  pulpit. 

i.    THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION  AND  ITS  PREACHING 

No  doubt  the  character  of  Henry  VIII.  and  his  suit 
for  divorce  from  Katharine  of  Arragon  were  very  in- 
fluential in  bringing  on  and  shaping  the  English  Re- 
formation; no  doubt  also  the  patriotic  desire  for  hide- 


474  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

pendence  of  papal  authority  in  England  had  very  much  to 
do  with  it ;  no  doubt,  further,  that  many  churchmen  in  the 
country  sympathized  with  both  these  elements  of  the  situ- 
ation ;  but  back  of  all  these  things  there  lay  in  the  minds 
of  the  great  English  people  a  deep  discontent  with  exist- 
ing religious  conditions,  and  a  readiness  to  be  led  in 
mending  them.  This  readiness  settled  more  and  more 
into  a  fixed  and  mighty  purpose  through  the  troubled 
reigns  of  Henry,  Edward,  and  Mary,  until  it  reached 
its  accomplishment  under  Elizabeth.  Not  sovereigns, 
statesmen  nor  prelates  could  have  wrought  out  the  Eng- 
lish Reformation  unless  there  had  been  among  the  people 
themselves  an  intelligent,  vigorous  and  religiously  earnest 
party  of  reform,  which,  though  at  first  not  in  the  major- 
ity, yet  knew  how  to  make  its  influence  felt.  Preaching, 
as  we  have  seen  in  our  account  of  Wiclif1  and  his  work, 
had  much  to  do  with  creating  and  manifesting  this  senti- 
ment; and  we  shall  from  now  on  have  to  consider  the 
great  part  it  played  in  the  powerful  movement  of  the  age.2 
Well  says  Mr.  W.  H.  Beckett,3  "  In  an  age  which  was 
eminently  a  hearing  and  not  a  reading  one,  the  influence 
of  such  able  and  zealous  preachers  as  Latimer,  Knox, 
Ridley,  Hooper,  Bradford,  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 
In  its  preachers  rather  than  its  rulers  was  the  strength 
of  the  Reformation  movement." 

The  work  of  Wiclif  and  the  Lollards  had  by  no  means 
spent  its  force.  Beckett  shows  how  the  Lollard  preach- 
ing was  most  influential  in  those  very  regions  (mostly 
in  the  south  and  east)  where  the  strength  of  the  Ref- 
ormation was  greatest.  He  also  points  out  that  the  lack 
of  records  of  Lollard  persecutions  for  a  long  time  before 
the  Tudors  came  to  the  throne  does  not,  as  commonly 
supposed,  indicate  that  the  Lollards  had  been  suppressed ; 
but  the  cessation  of  persecution  was  due  to  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  As 
Fuller  puts  it,  "  The  very  storm  was  their  shelter."  The 
revival  of  persecution  under  both  the  Tudor  Henrys 
shows  that  the  Lollards  were  still  in  evidence.  In  their 

1  Ante,  p.  336  ff. 

2 1  have  found  great  pleasure  and  help  in  the  brief  and  popular, 
but  at  the  same  time  able  and  scholarly  work  of  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Beckett,  The  English  Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

*  Chap.  XX. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          475 

preaching  they  denounced  the  Romanist  doctrines  with 
mighty  earnestness  and  exalted  the  Scriptures  as  the  suf- 
ficient guide  to  doctrine  and  duty.  This  Lollard  influence 
not  only  disposed  the  people  to  desire  and  hear  gladly  the 
evangelical  preaching,  but  also  was  of  force  in  forming 
the  preachers  themselves. 

Another  highly  important  sign  of  the  coming  change 
was  the  reformatory  sentiment  that  found  place  in  both 
the  universities.  At  Oxford  Colet's  1  work  was  finished 
on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation,  and  his  name  and  influ- 
ence were  by  no  means  forgotten.  Cardinal  Wolsey  had 
some  projects  for  instituting  reforms  in  the  church — dis- 
ciplinary rather  than  doctrinal — and  it  was  among  his 
plans  to  found  at  Oxford,  from  the  proceeds  of  certain 
suppressed  monasteries,  a  new  college  which  should  af- 
ford a  better  culture  for  priests.  His  career  was  suddenly 
cut  short,  and  we  do  not  know  what  sort  of  reforms  might 
have  come  under  his  guidance.  At  Oxford  Erasmus 
taught,  as  well  as  at  Cambridge,  during  his  stay  in  Eng- 
land. In  1510  his  famous  satire,  The  Praise  of  Folly, 
appeared,  with  its  dedication  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  it 
was  much  read  in  England.  In  1516,  from  Basel,  his 
Greek  Testament  appeared,  and  had  a  great  influence 
at  both  the  universities  and  among  the  better  clergy  else- 
where. At  Cambridge  there  was  in  the  early  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  before  the  distinctively  reformatory 
events  began,  a  decided  tendency  in  that  direction.  Sev- 
eral of  the  most  distinguished  preachers  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, as  well  as  others  who  helped  it  other  ways,  were 
at  this  time  studying  and  working  at  Cambridge.  Thus, 
with  Lollard  sentiments  among  the  people  and  the  new 
ideas  of  learning  and  theology  working  at  both  the  edu- 
cational centers  of  the  nation,  there  were  preparatory  in- 
fluences of  the  first  importance  for  the  preaching  of  the 
Reformation.  That  preaching  did  not  begin  in  any  sudden 
or  particularly  impressive  way,  but  gradually  grew  up  and 
gained  power  by  its  own  momentum,  and  by  the  help  of 
other  influences  as  it  went  on. 

We  have  already  had  frequent  occasion  to  observe  the 
natural  sympathetic  relation  of  preaching  to  the  age  in 
which  it  finds  its  exercise;  and  both  in  a  general  way 
1  Ante,  p.  342. 


476  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

and  in  many  important  particulars  this  was  manifest  in 
the  English  reformation  preaching.  That  widespread 
stimulus  of  thought  which  came  from  the  discovery  of 
America,  the  invention  of  printing,  the  revival  of  learn- 
ing, all  in  the  fifteenth  century,  left  its  traces  upon  the 
English  mind  and  the  English  preaching  as  it  did  else- 
where, and  it  may  be  dismissed  with  this  brief  reminder. 
More  immediate  was  the  effect  of  the  course  of  events 
in  England  itself. 

The  reigns  of  the  four  Tudor  sovereigns  under  whom 
the  Reformation  occurred  afford  convenient  as  well  as 
historically  appropriate  waymarks  to  denote  its  progress 
and  its  influence  upon  preaching.  During  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.  (1509-1547)  the  personal  character  of  the 
monarch  counted  for  something  in  regard  to  preaching  as 
well  as  the  general  progress  of  the  Reformation,  for  the 
king  was  disposed  to  manage  everything  in  sight,  preach- 
ing included.  But  his  partiality  for  Cranmer  and  respect 
for  Latimer  were  strong  indirect  encouragements  of  the 
Reformation,  though  Henry  was  in  doctrine  always  far 
more  of  a  Catholic  than  a  reformer.  The  great  reform 
parliament  (1529-1536)  was  literally  the  power  behind 
the  throne  in  his  reign,  and  its  reformatory  acts,  especially 
those  suppressing  the  monasteries,  were  of  profound  im- 
portance to  preaching.  But  the  Six  Articles  (1539)  were 
decidedly  reactionary  in  doctrine,  and  made  it  very  dan- 
gerous to  preach  Protestant  views.  The  reign  of  the 
boy  king,  Edward  VI. — really  a  regency  or  protectorate 
(1547-1553) — was  most  favorable  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Reformation.  The  statesmen  who  guided  the  policy  of 
England  during  this  time  sympathized  with  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  Cranmer  was  the  leading  spirit  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  The  Six  Articles  were  repealed,  Protestant  di- 
vines from  abroad  (Butzer,  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli, 
Ochino,  John  a  Lasco)  were  invited  to  England  and  put 
in  places  of  influence,  and  important  acts  were  passed 
regarding  the  supply  of  preachers  for  the  parishes.  But 
there  was  no  unrestricted  liberty  to  preach;  license  was 
required  before  a  preacher  was  permitted  to  exercise  his 
ministry,  and  the  requirement  seems  to  have  been  pretty 
well  enforced.  Under  Mary  (1553-1558)  two  things  vir- 
tually put  a  stop  to  Protestant  preaching  in  England  for  a 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         477 

while:  (i)  the  reestablishment  of  the  Catholic  worship; 
and  (2)  the  martyrdom,  imprisonment  or  banishment  of 
the  leading  Protestant  preachers.  But  in  these  dark  days 
the  nation  was  being  tested  for  better  times,  and  the  effect 
of  the  persecution  was  to  aid  rather  than  hinder  the  es- 
tablishment of  Protestantism  in  the  next  reign. 

Under  Elizabeth,  who  began  to  reign  in  1558,  the  res- 
toration of  Protestantism  was  at  first  compromisingly 
cautious  and  slow.  Its  final  establishment  occurred  in 
the  latter  part  of  her  reign.  But  yet,  in  her  early  days, 
something  was  gradually  done  for  the  rehabilitation  of 
reformatory  preaching.  The  need  was  indeed  great,  for 
the  dearth  of  preachers  during  the  first  years  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign  was  fearful.  At  first,  to  avoid  controversies, 
preaching  was  forbidden  for  a  while,1  the  church  services 
being  confined  to  the  reading  in  English  of  the  Gospel 
and  Epistles  for  the  day,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  Litany.  At  St.  Paul's  Cross — 
the  famous  scene  of  so  much  preaching  in  better  days — 
there  was  no  sermon  from  Christmas  to  Easter.  It  is 
true  this  prohibition  of  preaching  was  only  temporary, 
but  it  aggravated  the  trouble  occasioned  by  the  general 
disorganization  of  worship,  the  unsettled  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  paucity  of  Protestant  preachers.  Thomas 
Lever  2  wrote  to  Bullinger  at  Zurich  in  the  second  year  of 
Elizabeth's  reign :  "  Many  of  our  parishes  have  no  clergy ; 
and  out  of  that  very  small  number  who  administer  the 
sacrament  throughout  this  great  country  there  is  hardly 
one  in  a  hundred  who  is  both  able  and  willing  to  preach 
the  Word  of  God."  This  lack  of  preachers  and  preaching 
continued  for  a  long  time.  Fourteen  years  after  Eliza- 
beth's accession  it  is  said  that  as  many  as  thirty-four 
parishes  even  in  the  diocese  of  Canterbury  were  vacant. 
In  many  churches  there  was  only  occasional  preaching 
during  the  year. 

Yet  some  effort  was  made  to  repair  the  dreadful  breach 
caused  in  the  ranks  of  the  clergy  by  the  persecution  under 
Mary.  In  December,  1559,  Parker  was  made  archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  The  death  of  Cardinal  Pole,  who  was 
appointed  to  succeed  Cranmer,  spared  Protestantism  the 
necessity  of  deposing  him,  and  perhaps  the  shame  of  re- 

1  Beckett,  op.  cit.,  p.  264.  *  Beckett,  p.  274. 


478  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

taliation  for  Cranmers  wrongs.  The  appointment  of 
other  prelates  and  clergy  followed  rapidly.  Grindal,  who 
had  been  much  associated  with  Ridley,  and  was  a  fine 
preacher,  was  made  bishop  of  London.  Sandys,  who 
was  also  a  preacher  of  some  force,  was  assigned  to  the 
see  of  Worcester ;  and  Jewel,  perhaps  the  ablest  preacher 
of  them  all,  was  created  bishop  of  Salisbury.  Both 
Sandys  and  Jewel  had  imbibed  the  German  and  Swiss 
ideas  of  reform,  and  were  thorough-going  Protestants. 
There  were  many  ordinations  ai\d  appointments  of  the 
lower  clergy,  and  to  meet  the  pressing  need  a  tempo- 
rary order  of  readers  was  instituted  to  read  the  services 
and  the  homilies  without  administering  the  sacraments. 
Thus  slowly  and  with  difficulty  did  Protestant  preaching 
recover  strength  in  England  after  the  sharp  check  of 
those  five  blighting  years  of  Mary's  reign. 

Recurring  now  to  the  earlier  days,  we  must  consider 
another  powerful  influence  upon  the  history  of  reform 
preaching.  Most  important  service  was  rendered  to  the 
progress  of  the  English  Reformation  and  to  its  preach- 
ing by  the  translation  and  dissemination  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  production  of  Protestant  literature.  The  English 
Bible  was  one  of  the  Reformation's  most  precious  gifts 
to  the  world.  The  work  of  translation  went  on  from 
the  days  of  Wiclif  to  the  publication  of  the  King  James 
Version  in  1611 ;  and  that  crowning  achievement,  as  its 
familiar  title  page  reminds  us,  was  based  on  the  earliest 
versions — "  With  former  translations  diligently  compared 
and  revised."  Most  of  these  "  former  translations  "  ap- 
peared within  the  time  we  are  now  studying,1  and  it  is 
impossible  to  over-emphasize  their  importance  in  the  de- 
velopment of  Pr.otestant  preaching,  both  as  regards  the 
quickening  of  intelligent  spiritual  interest  in  the  hearers 
and  the  more  thorough  furnishing  of  the  preachers. 

Besides  the  circulation  of  the  Bible,  the  production  and 
publication  of  Protestant  literature  greatly  helped  the 
preaching  of  the  reformed  doctrines.  Erasmus'  Para- 

^indale's  New  Testament,  1525-1529;  Coverdale's  Bible  (en- 
tire), 1535;  "Matthew's"  (probably  Rogers'  publication  of  trans- 
lations left  by  Tindale  and  supplemented  by  portions  from  Cover- 
dale)  soon  after;  then  the  "Great  Bible,"  and  Cranmer's  Bible — 
all  before  1550. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,    AGE          479 

phrase  of  the  New  Testament  was  translated  into  Eng- 
lish and  appointed  to  be  read  in  the  churches.  Frith's 
sharp  Disputation  of  Purgatory  appeared  in  1531,  and 
called  forth  a  vigorous  defence  of  the  doctrine  by  Sir 
Thomas  More.  Tindale's  able  statement  of  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  in  his  exposition  of  the  Parable  of 
the  Wicked  Mammon,  and  his  more  important  treatise 
on  the  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man,  were  powerful  con- 
tributions to  the  Protestant  cause,  and  supplied  many  a 
preacher  with  arguments  and  reinforcements.  The  two 
fundamental  principles  of  the  English  Reformation — 
the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  the  external  government  of 
the  church,  and  the  sole  authority  of  Scripture  in  doc- 
trine— were  clearly  and  strongly  set  forth  in  the  treatise. 
In  1537  there  was  drawn  up  by  a  committee  of  bishops  and 
published  a  work  called  The  Institution  of  a  Christian 
Man.  It  contained  an  exposition  of  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments,  very 
largely  with  a  Protestant  coloring;  though  modifications 
in  a  later  edition  under  Gardiner's  influence  made  it  more 
Catholic  in  tone.  The  book  was  intended  chiefly  to  in- 
struct the  clergy,  and  was  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Bish- 
op's Book."  In  its  first  form  it  undoubtedly  helped  the 
preachers  to  set  forth  the  evangelical  doctrines.  The 
development  of  the  Prayer  Book  in  successive  editions 
and  modifications  through  the  reigns  of  Henry,  Edward 
and  Elizabeth,  likewise  had  a  relation  to  preaching  in  that 
its  being  in  English  helped  to  popularize  worship,  and  it 
also  recognized  the  place  of  preaching  in  the  service. 

More  directly  connected  with  preaching,  however,  was 
the  preparation — long  apart — of  the  two  books  of  Homi- 
lies. The  first  of  these  was  published  in  the  time  of 
King  Edward  "  for  the  staying  of  such  errors  as  were 
then  sparkled  among  the  people."  The  idea  was  much 
like  that  which  lay  back  of  the  old  Homilies  of  ^Elfric 
and  the  later  ones  of  Wiclif;  to  aid  the  less  cultured 
preachers  in  what  they  should  say,  or,  in  the  absence 
of  ability,  to  use  the  material  for  fresh  sermons,  to  be 
read  as  they  were.  Three  of  the  twelve  are  said  to 
have  been  written  by  Cranmer;  others  were  contributed 
by  Ridley,  Latimer,  Butzer,  and  perhaps  others.  They 
set  out  the  principal  doctrines  of  the  Reformation  very 


480  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

distinctly.  The  later  book  was  published  after  the  res- 
toration of  Protestantism  under  Elizabeth,  being  sanc- 
tioned by  the  Convocation  of  1562.  The  work  was  done 
by  the  prelates  of  that  later  date,  has  a  larger  number 
of  homilies,  and  is  even  more  distinctly  Protestant  in  tone. 
In  one  way  these  Homilies  helped  preaching,  that  is,  by 
affording  material  to  the  uninstructed  clergy ;  in  another 
they  injured  it,  by  encouraging  dependence  upon  such 
helps. 

Reformatory  preaching  in  England  was  characterized 
by  the  traits  common  to  that  movement  in  all  the  Euro- 
pean countries,  but  modified  by  the  language  and  habits 
of  thought  of  the  people,  and  by  the  circumstances  at- 
tending the  origin  and  development  of  the  English  Re- 
formation. The  first  sermon  of  the  Book  of  Homilies? 
printed  in  1548,  is  entitled  "  A  Fruitful  Exhortacion  to  the 
Readynge  of  Holye  Scripture,"  and  declares  both  the  suf- 
ficiency of  the  Bible  as  a  rule  of  faith  and  the  necessity 
for  studying  and  reading  it  to  the  humble  as  well  as  to 
the  learned.  Thus  the  cardinal  principle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion is  here  distinctly  laid  down,  and  no  doubt  was  equally 
emphasized  in  the  sermons  by  individual  preachers.  The 
sermon  on  Salvation,  ascribed  to  Cranmer,  affirms  and  re- 
iterates the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone;  and 
the  relation  of  faith  and  works  is  thus  set  forth :  "  In 
our  justification  is  not  only  God's  mercye  and  grace,  but 
also  his  justice,  whiche  the  Apostle  calleth  the  justice 
[righteousness]  of  God;  and  it  consisteth  in  paiynge  our 
raunsome  and  fulfillynge  of  the  lawe;  and  so  the  grace 
of  God  doth  not  exclude  the  justice  of  God  in  our  justifi- 
cation, but  onely  excludeth  the  justice  [righteousness]  of 
man,  that  is  to  saie,  the  justice  of  our  woorkes  as  to  be 
merites  of  deservyng  our  justification.  And,  therefore, 
sainct  Paule  declareth  here  nothynge  upon  the  behalf  of 
man  concerning  his  justification,  but  onely  a  true  and 
lively  faith,  which  nevertheless  is  the  gift  of  God  and 
not  mannes  onely  work  without  God.  And  yet  that  faythe 

*I  had  the  pleasure  of  using  (in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale, 
Paris)  an  ancient  edition  of  the  Book  of  Homilies  "  imprinted  at 
London  the  XXI  daye  of  lune  in  the  seconde  yere  of  the  reigne 
of  our  souvereigne  lord  kyng  Edward  the  VI ;  by  Rychard  Graf- 
ton  printer  to  his  moste  royall  maiestie;  in  the  yere  of  our  Lord 
MDXLVIII." 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         481 

doeth  not  exclude  repentaunce,  hope,  love,  dread  and  the 
feare  of  God  to  be  joyned  with  faith  in  every  man  that  is 
justified,  but  it  excludeth  them  from  the  office  of  justify- 
inge.  So  that,  although  they  be  all  presente  together  in 
him  that  is  justified,  yet  they  justify  not  altogether."  The 
sermons  on  faith  and  good  works  carry  out  this  idea 
further,  and  those  on  Christian  morals  are  satisfactory. 

Of  course  the  Homilies,  as  well  as  the  sermons  of  Lati- 
mer,  Bradford  and  the  rest,  bring  out  fully  that  our  sole 
dependence  for  salvation  is  on  Christ,  and  they  oppose 
all  externalism.  The  Romanist  doctrines  of  the  mass, 
transubstantiation,  penances,  purgatory,  papal  supremacy, 
and  the  like  are  attacked  with  the  customary  Protestant 
arguments.  While  the  Scriptures  are  exalted  as  the  rule 
of  faith  and  are  always  quoted,  and  usually,  very  appo- 
sitely, there  is  less  of  distinctive  exposition  than  in  the 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  sermons.  Commentaries  could 
not  be  constructed  from  the  sermons  of  the  English  re- 
formers as  they  could  from  those  of  Luther  and  Calvin. 
And  the  number  of  preserved  sermons  is  comparatively 
very  small.  There  are  a  good  many  from  Latimer,  for  he 
had  a  Swiss  friend  and  secretary  who  was  at  pains  to 
write  out  a  large  number  of  them,  but  from  the  rest  only 
a  very  few  remain. 

Criticisms  of  individuals  will  be  reserved  for  the  bio- 
graphical notices,  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  from  the 
contemporary  accounts,  as  well  as  from  the  remaining 
specimens  of  sermons,  we  see  that  the  English  reform 
preachers  held  the  evangelical  doctrine,  and  they  preached 
it  with  simplicity  and  with  power.  Their  courage,  con- 
stancy, fidelity  to  truth  and  duty,  and  their  power  to 
move,  win  and  hold  their  countrymen,  are  all  apparent 
in  their  sermons.  To  a  study  of  some  of  these  noble 
men  we  must  now  turn. 

2.    PREACHERS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION 

At  any  time  in  the  history  of  preaching  there  are  dis- 
tinguished preachers  who  are  not  specially  distinguished 
as  preachers;  their  pulpit  gifts  are  not  commensurate 
with  their  services  in  other  directions.  The  era  of  the 
Reformation  in  England  affords  abundant  illustration  of 


482  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

this  fact,  and  a  few  of  the  preachers  of  this  class  must  be 
noticed.1 

We  naturally  think  first  of  the  famous  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  under  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward 
VI.,  Thomas  Cranmer  (1489-1556).  The  future  leader 
of  the  English  Reformation  came  of  good  old  family  in 
Nottinghamshire.  His  mother  was  left  a  widow  while 
Thomas  was  still  young,  but  she  cared  for  his  education, 
sending  him  to  Cambridge  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Here 
he  remained  for  eight  years,  taking  the  regular  degrees  in 
course  and  being  made  a  fellow  of  Jesus  College.  This 
fellowship  he  lost  through  marriage,  in  accordance  with 
the  custom,  but  was  reflected  to  it  on  the  early  death  of 
his  wife.  He  was  thus  in  residence  at  Cambridge  for  a 
number  of  years,  was  made  a  doctor  of  divinity  and  gave 
lectures  on  that  subject;  but  when  he  was  ordained  a 
priest  and  what  preaching  places  he  filled  in  his  early 
career  are  not  mentioned  in  the  accounts  of  his  life. 

As  is  well  known,  his  rapid  promotion  to  high  ecclesi- 
astical positions  was  due  to  the  favor  of  Henry  VIII.  be- 
cause of  Cranmer's — no  doubt  sincere — convictions  as  to 
the  rightfulness  of  the  king's  divorce,  and  as  to  the 
means  by  which  it  might  be  secured.  In  1533  Cranmer 
was  made  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  soon  thereafter 
the  famous  cause  was  tried  before  him  as  Primate  of 
England,  and  the  divorce  was  granted.  Faithful,  some- 
times indeed  subservient,  to  Henry  all  his  life,  Cranmer 
never  lost  the  favor  of  his  royal  patron;  and  through 
the  reign  of  the  boy  king,  Edward,  he  retained  and  faith- 
fully administered  his  great  office. 

Though  Cranmer  was  far  from  rash  or  very  decided 
in  his  reformatory  progress,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  he  was  sincere  in  his  growing  adhesion  to  the  Prot- 
estant views.  He  was  disposed  to  follow  rather  than 
lead  in  matters  of  opinion,  and  he  especially  deferred 
much  to  the  wise  and  learned  Ridley.  Though  not  a 
strong  preacher  himself,  he  did  occasionally  preach.  He 
wrote  some  of  the  Homilies;  and  he  gave  generous  and 
effective  encouragement  to  such  powerful  preachers  as 
Latimer,  Ridley,  Bradford,  Grindal  and  others. 

On  the  accession  of  Mary,  Cranmer  was  degraded  from 

1  In  preparing  the  sketches  that  follow  I  have  found,  the  articles 
in  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.  of  especially  good  service. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         483 

his  high  offices  and  imprisoned  along  with  Latimer,  Rid- 
ley and  others.  From  his  prison  window  he  was  a  mourn- 
ful witness  of  the  martyrdom  of  his  two  faithful  com- 
panions, and  in  a  few  months  followed  in  their  way.  The 
timidity  and  weakness  which  led  him  to  sign  a  series  of 
recantations  of  his  Protestant  views  were  only  atoned  for 
by  the  brave  and  pathetic  way  in  which  he  came  to  his 
true  self  at  the  end,  renounced  his  weak  and  insincere  re- 
cantations, reasserted  his  real  views,  and  cheerfully  died 
for  them.  It  is  easy  to  criticise  the  obvious  weaknesses 
of  Cranmer — his  over-caution,  his  vacillation,  his  subser- 
viency— but  his  virtues  should  not  be  forgotten — his  kind- 
ness, generosity,  forgiving  disposition;  and  his  great 
services  to  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  England  in  the 
trying  days  of  his  life  should  be  fully  recognized. 

The  chief  significance  of  William  Tindale  (d.  1536)  is 
as  a  Bible  translator  and  author,  but  he  was  also  a 
preacher  of  promise,  and  doubtless  would  easily  have  at- 
tained eminence  in  that  regard  had  his  life-work  not 
been  directed  in  another  and  extremely  useful  channel. 
He  was  born  in  the  west  of  England,  near  the  Welsh  bor- 
der, in  the  ninth  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  after 
preliminary  training  studied  with  marked  diligence  and 
success  at  both  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  After  taking 
his  degrees  he  was  ordained  priest,  and  taught  for  a  while 
in  the  family  of  a  gentleman  in  Gloucestershire,  and 
preached  at  various  places  nearby,  including  out-of-door 
services  on  the  College  Green  at  Bristol.  His  preaching 
was  effective,  and  as  his  views  were  already  verging  to- 
ward reform,  the  clergy  was  aroused  and  had  the  bold 
preacher  called  to  account  before  the  bishop.  Tindale 
defended  himself  with  ability  and  was  released.  He  is 
said  to  have  remarked  to  one  of  his  opponents,  "  If  God 
spare  my  life  ere  many  years  I  will  cause  a  boy  that  di- 
recteth  a  plow  shall  know  more  of  the  Scripture  than 
thou  dost."  This  shows  that  already  he  had  formed  the 
purpose  of  translating  the  Bible  into  English. 

With  this  great  project  in  his  mind  he  came  to  London 
hoping  to  receive  aid  and  encouragement  from  the  schol- 
arly bishop  Tunstall.  This  was  the  very  Tunstall  who 
a  few  years  later  was  to  buy  up  and  burn  a  quantity  of 
Tindale's  Testaments.  Naturally  Tindale  got  no  help 
in  that  quarter,  but  having  in  some  way  secured  a  preach- 


484  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

ing  place  in  one  of  the  London  parishes,  his  sermons  at- 
tracted notice  and  won  him  the  fast  and  helpful  friend- 
ship of  a  certain  Humphrey  Monmouth,  who  aided  him 
with  sympathy  and  in  practical  ways.  Coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  he  could  not  safely  or  successfully  accom- 
plish his  great  design  in  England,  Tindale  left  the  coun- 
try. The  first  edition  of  his  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  published  at  Worms,  in  Germany,  in  1525  or 
1526.  Later  Tindale  moved  to  Antwerp,  where  a  second 
edition  was  published  in  1529.  Meantime  his  two  great 
Protestant  treatises — the  exposition  of  the  Wicked  Mam- 
mon, and  the  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man — had  ap- 
peared, and  gave  great  help  to  the  cause  of  reform  in 
England.  These  writings  involved  him  in  a  vigorous 
controversy  with  the  accomplished  Thomas  More,  in 
which  Tindale  amply  sustained  himself  against  that  mas- 
ter of  dialectic  and  style. 

While  residing  at  Antwerp  and  working  at  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Old  Testament,  Tindale  met  and  influenced 
John  Rogers,  in  whose  hands  he  left  his  uncompleted 
work.  For,  in  1535,  Tindale  was  in  some  way  betrayed 
into  leaving  the  protection  of  the  so-called  "  English 
House  "  at  Antwerp,  and  was  captured  by  the  imperial 
authorities.  It  was  not  to  the  taste  of  Charles  V.  or  his 
agents  in  the  Netherlands  to  have  this  arch-heretic  busily 
at  work  at  Antwerp.  After  a  period  of  imprisonment  at 
Vilvorde,  and  on  the  refusal  of  Henry  VIII.  to  interfere 
in  his  behalf,  Tindale  was  executed  as  a  heretic  in  1536. 
At  the  stake  he  is  said  to  have  prayed,  "  Lord,  open  the 
King  of  England's  eyes."  Tindale  was  a  competent 
scholar,  and  much  of  his  interpretation  and  diction  has 
been  retained  in  all  subsequent  English  versions  of  the 
Bible. 

Next  to  Tindale  should  be  named  his  friend  John 
Rogers  (d.  1555),  who  was  born  near  Birmingham  about 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Cambridge  and  began  his  ministry  as  priest  in  a 
small  London  parish,  but  on  going  to  Antwerp  to  serve 
the  English  congregation  there  he  came  under  Tindale's 
influence,  and  probably  was  thus  led  to  embrace  Protest- 
ant views.  He  married,  went  to  Germany,  where  at  Wit- 
tenberg he  came  in  touch  with  the  Reformers  and  put 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         485 

forth  the  version  of  the  Bible  known  as  "  Matthew's 
Bible,"  consisting  of  Tindale's  published  and  unpublished 
work,  with  some  parts  filled  in  from  Coverdale's  version. 
In  1548,  Edward  now  reigning,  Rogers  returned  to  Eng- 
land, and  was  appointed  successively  to  several  different 
preaching  places,  the  most  important  being  one  con- 
nected with  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  to  which  he  was  as- 
signed by  Bishop  Ridley. 

In  his  preaching  Rogers  did  not  spare  the  corrupt 
courtiers  about  Edward  VI.,  and  he  thus  made  some 
enemies,  and  was  called  before  the  council  to  answer  for 
some  of  his  utterances.  But  without  cringing  or  retrac- 
tion he  made  so  frank  and  manly  a  justification  of  his 
course  that  he  remained  unpunished.  In  July,  1553,  dur- 
ing the  brief  interval  between  Edward  and  Mary,  when 
the  unfortunate  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  acknowledged  queen 
by  a  small  following,  Rogers,  by  order  of  her  council, 
preached  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  but  he  did  not  at  that  time 
touch  upon  the  political  situation.  A  few  weeks  later, 
however,  after  Mary  had  been  acknowledged  queen,  he 
preached  again,  and  this  time  was  not  so  prudent.  Ac- 
cording to  Foxe,1  "  he  made  a  godly  and  vehement  ser- 
mon at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  confirming  such  true  doctrine  as 
he  and  others  had  taught  there  in  King  Edward's  days, 
exhorting  the  people  constantly  to  remain  in  the  same 
and  to  beware  of  all  pestilent  popery,  idolatry  and  super- 
stition." It  was  not  wise,  perhaps,  but  it  was  brave  unto 
daring  and  faithful  unto  death — the  stake  was  its  earthly, 
the  crown  its  heavenly,  reward.  It  was  Rogers'  last  ser- 
mon. Summoned  before  the  royal  council  to  answer  for 
his  conduct,  he  pleaded  that  he  had  only  preached  the  re- 
ligion established  by  law;  and  this  was  true,  for  there 
had  not  been  time  to  change  the  reformatory  statutes  of 
Edward's  reign.  But  this  shrewd  plea  only  embarrassed 
the  persecutors  for  a  time.  Rogers  was  summoned  again, 
confined  in  his  own  house,  then  deprived  of  his  offices 
as  preacher,  then  imprisoned,  several  times  examined, 
condemned  as  a  heretic,  and  after  more  than  a  year  of 
trials  and  imprisonments  was  finally  brought  to  the  stake 
in  February,  1555,  the  first  of  that  "  noble  army  of  mar- 
tyrs "  who  suffered  under  Mary's  reign.  His  wife  and 
1  Quoted  by  Beckett,  p.  211. 


486  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

children  spoke  to  him  as  he  passed  to  the  place  of  suffer- 
ing and  encouraged  him  to  steadfastness ;  and  De  Noailles, 
the  French  ambassador,  who  witnessed  the  scene,  wrote 
in  his  report  that  Rogers  "  went  to  his  death  as  though  it 
had  been  his  wedding." 

No  sermons  remain  from  Rogers  to  give  us  an  insight 
into  his  manner  of  preaching,  but  he  was  held  in  highest 
esteem  as  a  preacher  by  Ridley  and  other  excellent 
judges;  and  his  courage,  fidelity  and  effectiveness  in  the 
pulpit  were  shown  on  more  than  one  trying  occasion. 

A  man  of  very  different  stamp  was  Miles  Coverdale 
(1488-1568),  also  one  of  the  venerated  pioneers  in  Eng- 
lish Bible  translation,  and  a  preacher  of  merit  and  in- 
fluence. Coverdale  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  a  graduate 
of  Cambridge,  and  as  early  as  1514  an  ordained  priest. 
He  joined  the  Augustinian  friars  and  came  under  the 
early  reformatory  influence  of  Barnes,  prior  to  the  abbey 
of  that  order  at  Cambridge.  After  a  time  he  left  the 
convent  and  devoted  himself  to  an  itinerant  evangelizing 
ministry  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  From  about 
1526  for  a  year  or  two  there  are  traces  of  his  activity  and 
success  in  this  work,  and  then  for  a  long  time  he  dis- 
appears from  view  till  the  publication  of  his  translation — 
the  first  complete  one — of  the  Bible  in  1535,  just  ten  years 
after  Tindale's  New  Testament.  During  this  time  Cover- 
dale  was  probably  for  the  most  part  abroad  and  hard  at 
work  on  his  translation.  It  was  published  out  of  Eng- 
land, but  the  place  has  been  disputed ;  probably  Antwerp 
has  the  honor.  Coverdale  returned  to  England  for  a 
short  time  about  1538  and  got  married,  but  on  the  fall  of 
Cromwell  and  the  punishment  of  Barnes,  his  friends,  he 
prudently  left  the  country  and  spent  a  term  of  years  as 
pastor  of  a  Lutheran  church  and  as  schoolmaster  at  Berg- 
zabern,  in  the  province  of  Zweibriicken  (Deux  Fonts),  in 
Germany.  Doubtless  during  his  long  sojourn  abroad, 
while  translating  the  Bible,  he  had  learned  the  languages 
and  made  the  connections  which  rendered  this  arrange- 
ment possible.  The  accession  of  Edward  VI.,  and  the 
now  dominant  influence  of  Cranmer  and  other  reformers, 
gave  Coverdale  opportunity  to  come  back  to  England  in 
1548. 

He  was  received  with  marked  and  deserved  favor,  and 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR  REFORMATORY,  AGE         487 

after  filling  with  acceptance  several  lower  places  was 
made  bishop  of  Exeter  in  1551.  Of  his  work  in  that  dio- 
cese an  old  chronicler  is  quoted  as  saying :  "  He  most 
worthilie  did  performe  the  office  committed  unto  him ;  he 
preached  continuallie  on  everi  holie  day,  and  did  read 
most  commonly  twise  in  the  weeke  in  some  church  or 
other  in  this  citie."  On  the  accession  of  Mary,  Cover- 
dale  was  put  out  of  his  bishopric  and  a  Catholic  put  in, 
but  through  various  influences  he  was  allowed  to  leave 
England  instead  of  being  sent  to  the  stake.  Stopping 
for  a  while  with  English  friends  in  Denmark  and  then  in 
Westphalia,  he  finally  made  his  way  back  to  his  old  place 
at  Bergzabern,  a  second  time  his  refuge. 

Once  more  and  lastly  this  good  man  of  long  life  and 
many  mutations  came  back  to  his  native  land;  this  was 
when  the  death  of  Mary  ended  the  persecutions  and  gave 
distressed  and  wasted  Protestantism  a  chance  to  recover 
itself  under  Elizabeth.  Coverdale  had  become  more  Puri- 
tan in  his  views,  and  now  declined  reappointment  as 
bishop,  though  as  titular  bishop  of  Exeter  he  took  part 
in  the  consecration  of  Parker  as  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. The  rest  of  his  life  was  devoted  to  preaching  in 
different  places,  and  he  was  much  sought  after.  Though 
not  so  strong  a  character  as  some  others  of  the  prominent 
reformers,  and  though  escaping  extreme  punishment, 
Coverdale  was  never  recreant  to  his  principles,  and 
through  all  his  long  and  troubled  life  was  an  eminently 
good  and  useful  man.  The  general  testimony  of  his  con- 
temporaries represents  him  as  a  preacher  of  more  than 
average  popularity  and  influence. 

Useful  in  the  pulpit  as  were  all  these  men,  particu- 
larly Rogers  and  Coverdale,  there  is  a  group  of  reform- 
ers whose  services  and  fame  lay  chiefly  in  their  preach- 
ing; and  the  best  known  and  greatest  of  these  was  the 
eminent  bishop  and  martyr,  Hugh  Latimer  *  (d.  1555). 

About  the  year  1490,  or  perhaps  even  earlier,  in  the 
county  of  Leicester,  there  was  born  to  a  well-to-do  yeo- 
man farmer  the  babe  who,  in  course  of  stressful  years, 
was  to  become  the  most  powerful  and  popular  preacher 

1  Sermons  and  Remains  of  Bp.  Latimer,  with  biographical 
sketches  compiled  from  Foxe  and  other  sources  edited  for  the 
Parker  Society  by  the  Rev.  G.  E.  Corrie,  Cambridge,  1844-5. 


A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

of  the  Reformation  in  England,  and  to  be  in  his  old  age 
a  martyr  for  the  cause  he  loved.  This  was  Hugh  Lati- 
mer,  an  only  son,  but  with  several  sisters.  Do  these  two 
facts  help  to  account  for  that  naive  and  refreshingly  in- 
offensive egotism  which  we  find  in  his  sermons?  After 
education  in  the  schools  near  his  home  the  wide-awake  lad 
was  sent  very  young  to  Cambridge,  where  he  resided  and 
studied  a  number  of  years  as  undergraduate,  resident 
graduate  and  preacher.  He  took  his  degrees  in  the  regu- 
lar course ;  his  conduct  at  college  was  irreproachable,  and 
he  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  mates. 

At  first  a  very  decided  papist,  he  fell  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Thomas  Bilney  and  others,  and  became  converted 
to  the  reformed  doctrines.  Many  years  later  (in  1552), 
when  now  an  old  man,  in  his  first  sermon  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  he  thus  recalls  the  memory  of  that  time :  "  Here 
I  have  occasion  to  tell  you  a  story  which  happened  at 
Cambridge.  Master  Bilney,  or,  rather,  Saint  Bilney,  that 
suffered  death  for  God's  word  sake — the  same  Bilney  was 
the  instrument  whereby  God  called  me  to  knowledge ;  for 
I  may  thank  him,  next  to  God,  for  that  knowledge  that 
I  have  in  the  Word  of  God.  For  I  was  as  obstinate  a 
papist  as  any  was  in  England,  insomuch  that  when  I 
should  be  made  bachelor  of  divinity  my  whole  oration 
went  against  Philip  Melanchthon  and  against  his  opin- 
ions. Bilney  heard  me  at  that  time  and  perceived  that  I  was 
zealous  without  knowledge,  and  he  came  to  me  after- 
wards in  my  study  and  desired  me  for  God's  sake  to  hear 
his  confession.  I  did  so;  and  to  say  the  truth,  by  his 
confession  I  learned  more  than  before  in  many  years. 
So  that  from  that  time  forward  I  began  to  smell  the  Word 
of  God  and  forsook  the  school  doctors  and  such  fool- 
eries." This  was  the  start,  but  there  were  other  influ- 
ences that  helped,  and  Latimer  was  fairly  entered  on  the 
way  of  the  Reformation. 

At  what  time  he  was  ordained  a  priest  we  do  not 
know,  but  his  preaching  began  at  Cambridge,  and  his 
talent  in  that  direction  was  not  hid.  A  hearer  of  his 
early  sermons  at  Cambridge  said,  "  None  except  the  stiff- 
necked  and  uncircumcised  in  heart  went  away  from  his 
preaching  without  being  affected  with  high  detestation  of 
sin  and  moved  unto  all  godliness  and  virtue."  His  ser- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         489 

mons  also  quickened  among  his  hearers  a  great  desire  for 
reading  the  Scriptures  and  for  hearing  a  more  evangelical 
preaching. 

This  work  at  the  university  went  on  for  about  two 
years,  but  Latimer's  zeal  and  advancing  reformatory 
views  awakened  opposition.  As  old  Foxe  quaintly  puts 
it :  "  How  be  it  as  Satan  never  sleepeth  when  he  seeth  his 
kingdom  begin  to  decay,  so  likewise  now,  seeing  that 
this  worthy  member  of  Christ  would  be  a  shrewd  shaker 
thereof,  he  raised  up  his  children  to  molest  and  trouble 
him."  So  much  noise  was  made  that  the  bishop  of  Ely, 
in  whose  diocese  Cambridge  lay,  determined  to  hear  for 
himself  how  Latimer  preached,  and,  without  giving  no- 
tice, came  one  day,  taking  pains  to  arrive  after  the  ser- 
mon was  begun.  Latimer's  quick  wit,  however,  was 
equal  to  the  occasion,  and  he  stopped  until  the  bishop 
and  his  retinue  were  properly  seated.  Then,  remarking 
that  since  the  bishop  had  come  to  hear  him,  it  would  be 
proper  to  preach  what  would  be  appropriate  to  the  occa- 
sion, he  cleverly  changed  his  text  and  preached  a  sermon 
on  the  priesthood  of  Christ  as  an  example  to  bishops, 
and  unfolded  with  no  less  force  than  tact  the  high  duties 
of  the  episcopal  office.  As  his  language  was  respectful 
and  his  doctrine  scriptural  the  bishop  could  take  no  visi- 
ble exception  to  the  sermon,  but  commended  it  after 
service  as  a  good  exposition  of  a  bishop's  duty ;  but  he 
asked  Latimer  to  agree  to  preach  there  soon  a  sermon  in 
condemnation  of  the  doctrines  of  Luther.  Latimer  re- 
plied that  as  Luther's  writings  had  long  been  prohibited 
to  be  read  at  Cambridge  he  was  not  acquainted  with  his 
doctrine,  but  added,  "  I  have  preached  before  you  to-day 
no  man's  doctrine,  but  only  the  doctrine  of  God  out  of  the 
Scriptures ;  and  if  Luther  do  none  other  than  I  have  done 
there  needeth  no  confutation  of  his  doctrine.  Otherwise, 
when  I  understand  that  he  doth  teach  against  the  Scrip- 
ture, I  will  be  ready  with  all  my  heart  to  confound  his 
doctrine  as  much  as  lieth  in  me."  This  answer,  rather 
more  shrewd  than  frank,  naturally  nettled  the  bishop,  and 
he  replied,  "  Well,  well,  Mr.  Latimer,  I  perceive  that  you 
somewhat  smell  of  the  pan ;  you  will  repent  this  gear  one 
day."  The  bishop's  threat  was  not  idle;  for,  on  further 
complaint,  he  forbade  Latimer's  preaching  in  any  of  the 


49°  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

churches  belonging  to  the  university.  On  this  Robert 
Barnes,  prior  of  the  Augustinian  abbey,  and  himself 
strongly  inclined  to  reformed  views,  opened  to  Latimer 
the  chapel  of  that  institution,  it  being  not  under  the 
bishop's  control.  So  Latimer  went  on  with  his  preaching, 
and  did  not  lack  a  congregation. 

Soon,  however,  complaint  was  made  to  Wolsey,  and 
Latimer  was  called  to  London  to  explain  himself  before 
the  great  Cardinal.  This  he  did  with  such  characteristic 
boldness,  combined  with  tact,  that  Wolsey  not  only  dis- 
missed the  charges,  but  gave  the  unproved  heretic  a  gen- 
eral license  to  preach  anywhere  in  England  he  would ! 
Latimer  was  not  the  man  either  to  keep  his  victory  to 
himself  or  slight  the  opportunities  of  further  preaching 
thus  afforded  him. 

Meantime  the  attention  of  Henry  VIII.  had  been  called 
to  Latimer,  and  he  had  a  curiosity  to  hear  the  bold 
preacher.  So  Latimer  was  called  to  preach  before  the 
court,  acquitted  himself  well,  was  liberally  paid  for  his 
services,  and  made  so  good  an  impression  that  in  1530 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  royal  chaplains.  So  that 
now  for  a  while  he  had  at  intervals  the  dangerous  and  irk- 
some honor  of  preaching  at  the  court  of  Henry  VIII.  In 
what  spirit  he  discharged  that  duty  we  may  gather  not 
only  from  the  character  of  the  man  and  from  the  reports 
of  contemporaries,  but  also  from  several  allusions  and 
reminiscences  which  are  found  in  his  later  sermons,  when, 
as  an  old  man,  he  was  court  preacher  again — this  time 
to  Edward  VI.  One  of  these  passages  is  as  follows :  "  In 
the  king's  days  that  dead  is  a  many  of  us  were  called  to- 
gether before  him  to  say  our  minds  in  certain  matters.  In 
the  end  one  kneeleth  me  down  and  accuseth  me  of  ,sedi- 
tion,  that  I  had  preached  seditious  doctrine.  An  heavy 
salutation,  and  a  hard  point  of  such  a  man's  doing  as  if 
I  should  name  him  ye  would  not  think  it.  The  king 
turned  to  me  and  said, '  What  say  you  to  that,  sir  ?  '  Then 
I  kneeled  down  and  turned  me  first  to  mine  accuser  and 
required  him,  '  Sir,  what  form  of  preaching  would  you 
appoint  me  to  preach  before  a  king?  Would  you  have 
me  for  to  preach  nothing  as  concerning  a  king  in  the 
king's  sermon?  Have  you  any  commission  to  appoint  me 
what  I  shall  preach  ? '  Besides  this,  I  asked  him  divers 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         491 

other  questions,  and  he  would  make  me  no  answer  to 
none  of  them  all ;  he  had  nothing  to  say.  Then  I  turned 
me  to  the  king  and  submitted  myself  to  his  grace  and 
said,  '  I  never  thought  myself  worthy  nor  I  never  sued 
to  be  a  preacher  before  your  Grace,  but  I  was  called  to  it, 
and  would  be  willing,  if  you  mislike  me,  to  give  place  to 
my  betters ;  for  I  grant  that  there  be  a  great  many  more 
worthy  of  the  room  than  I  am,  and  if  it  be  your  Grace's 
pleasure  so  to  allow  them  for  preachers,  I  could  be  con- 
tent to  bear  their  books  after  them.  But  if  your  Grace 
allow  me  for  a  preacher  I  would  desire  your  Grace  to  give 
me  leave  to  discharge  my  conscience;  give  me  leave  to 
frame  my  doctrine  according  to  mine  audience;  I  had 
been  a  very  dolt  to  have  preached  so  at  the  borders  of 
your  realm  as  I  preach  before  your  Grace/  And  I  thank 
Almighty  God,  which  hath  always  been  my  remedy,  that 
my  sayings  were  well  accepted  of  the  king,  for  like  a  gra- 
cious lord  he  turned  into  another  communication."  But, 
though  brave  and  faithful  in  his  perilous  position,  Lati- 
mer  wearied  of  it,  he  wished  to  breathe  a  freer  air  and 
speak  his  mind  without  being  accused  of  sedition  when 
he  framed  his  doctrine  to  suit  the  needs  and  sins  of  his 
audience. 

So  in  1531,  at  the  request  of  friends,  Latimer  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  king  to  a  benefice  at  West  Kingston,  in 
Wiltshire.  In  this  parish  for  several  years  he  exercised 
a  diligent  and  faithful  ministry.  He  carried  out  his 
principle  of  adapting  his  discourse  to  his  hearers,  and 
preached  the  very  marrow  of  the  gospel  in  that  racy, 
homely,  clear  and  vigorous  style  which  renders  even  his 
reported  and  printed  sermons  so  charming.  His  influence 
extended  far  beyond  his  own  parish,  and  he  was  accused 
of  meddling;  but  he  had  his  license  to  preach  anywhere 
he  would,  and  seems  to  have  used  his  privilege. 

Still  the  opponents  of  reform  and  his  enemies  would 
give  him  no  rest  from  attacks  and  annoyance.  The  gos- 
pel quality  of  his  preaching  was  the  real  trouble,  but  there 
were  not  wanting  various  pretexts  for  hindering  and  try- 
ing to  silence  him.  Once  he  was  summoned  to  London, 
and  detained  there  for  several  months  from  his  work, 
confined,  and,  it  seems,  for  a  time,  even  excommunicated, 
because  he  would  not  subscribe  to  certain  things  re- 


492  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

quired  by  the  bishops  in  the  Catholic  interest.  But  the 
king  finally  interfered,  and  seems  to  have  secured  from 
Latimer  some  sort  of  submission  or  promise  to  be  on  his 
good  behavior,  and  so  released  him  and  sent  him  back  to 
his  charge.  Latimer  still  had  his  share  of  persecution, 
and  at  one  time  seems  to  have  somewhat  compromised  his 
principles,  but,  if  so,  it  was  only  a  temporary  weakness. 

Under  Cranmer's  influence  Latimer  was  once  again  in- 
vited to  preach  a  series  of  sermons  before  the  king,  and 
in  1535  was  made  bishop  of  Worcester.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  Cranmer  appointed  him  to  preach  the  sermon 
before  Convocation,  and  Latimer  powerfully  attacked  in 
true  reformer's  style  the  abuses  and  corruptions  in  the 
church,  and  more  than  hinted  that  the  prelates  before 
him  had  not  lived  up  to  their  duty  in  reforming  evils.  In 
accordance  with  custom  the  sermon  was  in  Latin,  but 
it  was  translated  into  English  and  published,  and  made  a 
great  stir,  bringing  on  the  preacher  not  a  little  criticism 
and  annoyance ;  but  he  went  on  with  his  work  in  his  dio- 
cese, and  was  as  faithful  a  bishop  as  he  had  been  pastor. 
Latimer's  bishopric,  however,  was  not  of  very  long  dura- 
tion; for  in  1539,  under  royal  pressure,  the  famous  Six 
Articles  were  adopted  which  reasserted  many  of  the  es- 
sential Romanist  doctrines,  including  transubstantiation. 
Latimer  could  not  sign  the  articles,  and  resigned  his 
bishopric.  For  awhile  he  was  placed  in  custody,  but  was 
subsequently  released,  and  for  six  years  was  practically 
lost  from  view ;  how  he  occupied  himself  being  unknown. 
But  his  enemies  were  not  satisfied,  and  in  1547  he  was 
apprehended  on  some  sort  of  charges  and  sent  to  the 
Tower,  where  he  was  confined  for  the  remaining  few 
months  of  Henry's  reign. 

On  the  accession  of  Edward  VI.,  in  1547,  Latimer  was 
promptly  released  from  prison,  and  in  January,  1548,  after 
eight  years  of  silence,  he  preached  again  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross.  On  a  week  day  he  gave  his  famous  Sermon  on  the 
Plough,1  in  which  he  paid  his  respects  to  lazy  prelates, 
as  well  as  to  some  other  subjects  that  needed  attention. 
He  was  offered  again  his  bishopric  at  Worcester,  but  de- 
clined, and  devoted  himself  to  labors  among  the  people 
in  London  and  elsewhere,  living  for  the  most  part  with 
1  Fish,  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Eloq.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  129. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         493 

Archbishop  Cranmer  at  Lambeth.  He  was  by  no  means 
idle,  but  preached  much  in  different  places.  Among  the 
sermons  of  this  period  are  the  notable  ones  he  delivered 
before  the  young  king  on  several  occasions.  Nearly  every 
Sunday  he  was  preaching  somewhere,  besides  doing  much 
other  work  for  the  Protestant  cause. 

When  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  in  1553,  Latimer  was 
from  the  first  a  marked  man.  Opportunity  was  given  him 
to  escape  from  England,  but  he  declined  to  leave,  and  in 
September,  1553,  he  was  again  confined  in  the  Tower. 
Along  with  Cranmer  and  Ridley  he  was  later  taken  to 
Oxford  for  trial,  and  was  imprisoned  there  for  two  years, 
till  in  September,  1555,  a  new  trial  was  ordered  and  he 
and  Ridley  were  condemned  to  the  stake.  The  execution 
took  place  on  the  i6th  of  October,  and  is  thus  described 
by  one  of  the  old  chroniclers :  "  When  Master  Latimer 
stood  at  the  stake  and  the  tormentors  were  about  to  set 
fire  upon  him  and  that  most  reverend  father  Doctor  Rid- 
ley, he  lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven  with  a  most  amiable 
and  comfortable  countenance,  saying  these  words :  '  God 
is  faithful  who  does  not  suffer  us  to  be  tempted  above  our 
strength.'  And,  addressing  himself  to  Master  Ridley,  he 
said,  '  Be  of  good  comfort,  Master  Ridley,  and  play  the 
man ;  we  shall  this  day  light  such  a  candle  by  God's  grace 
in  England  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out.' " 

As  a  preacher  Latimer  ranks  among  the  best  of  his 
time.  The  contemporary  accounts  of  his  preaching  bear 
most  emphatic  testimony  to  its  charm,  its  power,  and  its 
practical  results.  And  though  he  spoke  freely,  without 
written  preparation,  we  are  fortunate  in  having  excellent 
reports  of  a  large  number  of  his  sermons  by  the  hand 
of  Augustine  Bernher,  a  Swiss,  who  for  some  years 
served  Latimer  faithfully  and  affectionately  as  a  secre- 
tary and  helper.  These  published  sermons  confirm  the 
traditions  of  Latimer's  excellence  as  a  preacher.  They 
bear  in  many  traits,  both  of  thought  and  style,  the  stamp 
of  a  marked  individuality.  Courage  combined  with 
shrewdness  and  tact,  strong  convictions  and  deep  feeling 
joined  to  a  lively  wit  and  quaint  humor,  clear  and  firm 
grasp  of  truth  along  with  an  easy  familiarity  of  manner, 
indifference  to  exact  analysis  and  division,  yet  an  orderly 
presentation  and  vigorous  movement  of  thought,  are  some 


494  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

of  the  things  that  show  themselves  to  the  reader  of  his 
sermons.  They  do  not  deal  so  much  in  exposition  as  in 
application  of  Scripture,  but  they  exalt  the  authority  and 
reverence  the  truth  of  God's  Word.  "  His  utterances  are 
as  fresh  as  morning  air,  or  the  morning  song  of  the  birds. 
He  grasps  truth  with  vigor,  handles  it  with  ease,  holds  it 
up  before  you  with  startling  reality."  *  And,  it  may  be 
added,  he  fortified  his  doctrine  by  his  life. 

Latimer's  companion  in  martyrdom,  Nicholas  Ridley 
(d.  1555)  came  of  an  ancient  and  respected  family  in 
Northumberland,  where  he  was  born  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century.  He  had  an  uncle,  Robert, 
who  was  an  influential  priest  and  preacher,  and  never  left 
the  Catholic  faith.  Nicholas  was  educated  at  Cambridge 
and  made  a  fine  reputation  as  a  scholar,  especially  dis- 
tiguishing  himself  in  Greek.  He  later  pursued  his  studies 
at  the  Sorbonne  in  Paris,  and  at  the  university  of  Lou- 
vain.  Not  till  after  the  death  of  his  uncle  Robert,  and 
then  only  gradually,  did  Ridley  become  a  convert  to  the 
Protestant  faith.  He  discussed  the  living  questions  much 
with  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli  and  with  Cranmer,  the  latter 
of  whom  leaned  much  through  life  on  Ridley's  learning 
and  judgment.  In  the  latter  part  of  King  Henry's  reign 
Ridley  was  advanced  to  a  good  many  church  honors,  was 
a  royal  chaplain,  a  canon  of  Canterbury,  and  also  of 
Westminster.  During  this  time  he  was  preaching  much, 
and  his  reformed  opinions  were  growing  and  strengthen- 
ing into  vital  convictions.  During  the  reign  of  King  Ed- 
ward his  conversion  to  Protestantism  became  complete, 
further  honors  came  to  him,  and  his  preaching  and  writ- 
ing were  a  powerful  advocacy  of  the  Reformation.  He 
was  first  made  bishop  of  Rochester  and  in  1550  promoted 
to  the  see  of  London,  instead  of  Bonner.  Ridley  showed 
great  consideration  to  the  deposed  prelate's  mother  and 
sister,  whom  he  permitted  still  to  live  in  the  episcopal  resi- 
dence. He  was  a  staunch  friend  and  patron  of  Rogers 
and  Bradford,  whose  preaching  gifts  he  recognized  and 
used  by  appointing  them  to  places  of  influence.  He  was 
also  in  close  touch  with  Cranmer  and  with  Hooper, 
though  Hooper's  pronounced  puritanism  and  objections 
to  vestments,  and  other  details  of  remnants  from  Cath- 
1  Broadus  Hist.  Prea.,  p.  192. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          495 

olicism,  involved  the  two  men  in  disagreeable  contro- 
versies. In  1553  Ridley  preached  before  the  young  king 
a  sermon  in  behalf  of  the  London  poor,  and  so  effective 
was  the  plea  that  Edward  sought  an  interview  with  the 
preacher,  and  the  outcome  was  the  establishment  of  three 
hospitals  in  the  city.  In  his  court  preaching  he  did  not 
spare  the  men  who,  taking  advantage  of  the  king's  youth 
and  ill-health,  were  guilty  of  shameless  greed  and  cor- 
ruptions. 

On  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  Ridley  was  induced  by 
the  Earl  of  Northumberland  to  declare  in  favor  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  and  in  a  sermon  at  Paul's  Cross  before  the 
Mayor  and  Corporation  of  London,  on  the  Sunday  after 
the  young  king  died,  the  bishop  took  strong  ground 
against  the  legitimacy  of  both  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  and 
denounced  in  vigorous  terms  Mary's  Romanism  as  a 
menace  to  England.  The  speedy  collapse  of  Lady  Jane 
Grey's  little  reign  and  the  proclamation  of  Mary  as 
queen  were,  of  course,  fatal  to  Ridley.  He  threw  him- 
self on  the  queen's  mercy — a  pitiful  refuge  truly! — but 
could  not  renounce  his  convictions.  He  was  promptly 
committed  to  the  Tower,  then  sent  with  Cranmer  and 
Latimer,  as  we  have  seen,  to  Oxford.  During  his  long 
imprisonment  he  wrote  letters  and  some  able  treatises  in 
defence  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  toward  the  last  gave 
out  two  farewell  addresses,  full  of  courage  and  eloquence, 
exhorting  his  brethren  to  steadfastness  and  trust.  In 
company  with  Latimer — the  two  encouraging  each  other 
— and  with  Cranmer  from  the  prison  window  sadly  look- 
ing on,  he  was  burned  at  the  stake  October  16,  1555. 

Ridley  was  a  profound  scholar  and  an  able  theologian, 
perhaps  the  strongest  in  this  early  group  of  reformers. 
Parker  and  Jewel  among  the  latter  ones  were  probably 
his  equals  in  learning,  but  his  position  among  the  leaders 
of  his  own  time  is  indicated  in  the  remark  of  Bonner  or 
Gardiner : 1  "  Latimer  leaneth  to  Cranmer,  Cranmer  lean- 
eth  to  Ridley,  and  Ridley  leaneth  to  his  own  singular  wit." 
As  to  his  preaching,  Foxe  2  says :  "  Every  holiday  and 
Sunday  he  preached  in  some  place  or  other,  unless  hin- 
dered by  weighty  business.  The  people  resorted  to  his 
sermons,  swarming  about  him  like  bees,  and  coveting  the 
1  Beckett,  p.  2ip,  *Id.,  p.  211, 


496  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

sweet  flowers  and  wholesome  juice  of  the  fruitful  doc- 
trine which  he  did  not  only  preach,  but  showed  the  same 
by  his  life."  The  literary  remains  from  Ridley  are  dis- 
appointingly little,  though  of  excellent  quality.1  He 
either  did  not  care  to  publish  or  did  not  take  time,  and 
there  was  no  one  to  report  and  hand  down  his  sermons 
as  Latimer's  friend  did.  The  treatise  on  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per is  an  able  and  clear  presentation  of  the  Protestant 
criticism  of  transubstantiation,  and  defends  the  Swiss, 
rather  Calvin's  than  Zwingli's,  view  of  the  ordinance. 
The  Lamentation  for  the  Change  in  Religion,  like  the 
former  treatise  given  out  from  his  prison,  deplores  the 
bringing  in  again  of  Romanism  under  Mary,  and  is  a 
weighty  defence  of  the  Reformation.  The  two  farewell 
addresses  already  mentioned  abound  in  Scripture  quota- 
tions, breathe  a  noble  courage  and  trust,  glow  with  love, 
and  are  couched  in  the  lofty  eloquence  of  a  great  soul 
that  was  looking  death  in  the  face  and  was  not  afraid. 

After  Ridley  and  Latimer  should  be  named  their 
fellow-laborer  and  fellow-sufferer,  John  Hooper 
(d.  1555),  who  was  martyred  in  the  same  year,  but  some 
eight  months  before  they  were.  Hooper  came  of  a  well- 
to-do  family  in  Somerset,  where  he  was  born  toward  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  He  was  educated  at  Ox- 
ford, and  is  said  to  have  entered  the  Cistercian  monastery 
at  Gloucester  when  he  was  ordained  a  priest.  On  the 
suppression  of  the  monastery  he  went  to  London,  where 
he  seems  to  have  lived  about  the  court  in  rather  a  worldly 
way  for  a  time.  Getting  hold  of  the  writings  of  Zwingli 
and  Bullinger,  he  became  impressed  with  their  views  and 
went  back  to  Oxford  with  the  intention  of  teaching  his 
new  opinions  there.  But  he  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
sharp  Catholic  professor,  Richard  Smith,  who  was  about 
to  try  him  for  heresy  when  he  left  Oxford  and  became 
steward  for  Sir  Thomas  Arundel.  He,  as  a  good  Cath- 
olic, was  much  concerned  because  of  Hooper's  heresies, 
and  sent  him  to  have  a  conference  with  the  famous 
Bishop  Gardiner,  in  hope  of  curing  him.  Instead  of  that 
the  effect  of  the  discussion  was  but  to  confirm  Hooper 
in  his  views.  To  avoid  trial  Hooper  now  left  England 
and  spent  some  time  abroad,  then  came  back,  then  went 
lLife  and  Writings  of  Bf>.  Ridley,  Rd.  Tract.  Soc, 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          497 

away  again,  this  time  to  Switzerland.  At  Strasburg  he 
met  with  Butzer,  and  at  Zurich  with  Bullinger. 

In  1549,  on  the  establishment  of  Protestantism,  he  re- 
turned to  England,  and  was  at  once  recognized  as  a  leader 
among  the  reformers.  He  was  appointed  chaplain  to  the 
Protector,  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  had  frequent  op- 
portunities for  preaching  in  London.  This  he  did  almost 
daily,  and  his  sermons  attracted  crowded  congregations. 
He  sympathized  with  the  Swiss  theologians,  was  not 
much  in  favor  of  episcopacy,  and  decidedly  opposed  to  the 
use  of  clerical  vestments  and  other  matters  of  cere- 
monial retained  from  the  old  church.  In  fact  he  was 
of  the  tendency  of  thought  that  under  Elizabeth  and  the 
Stuarts  came  to  be  stigmatized  as  Puritan.  This  in- 
volved him  in  controversies  with  Cranmer  and  Ridley, 
who  did  not  agree  with  these  views ;  but  Hooper  was 
very  highly  esteemed  by  the  young  king,  who  admired 
his  preaching.  In  a  series  of  sermons  before  the  king  on 
the  prophet  Jonah  he  attacked  some  of  the  Romish  prac- 
tices that  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land ;  but,  notwithstanding  his  Puritan  views  and  his  com- 
bativeness,  Hooper  was  nominated  to  the  bishopric  of 
Gloucester  and  urged  by  the  king  and  others  to  accept. 
He  had  many  scruples  on  matters  of  detail,  such  as  the 
form  of  the  oath,  the  vestments  and  so  on,  but  finally, 
some  compromises  being  made  on  both  sides,  he  yielded 
and  was  made  bishop  of  Gloucester  in  1550. 

As  bishop  Hooper  was  devoted  and  active  not  only 
in  affairs  of  administration,  but  especially  in  introducing 
reforms  and  in  preaching.  In  respect  to  the  last  his 
anxious  wife  wrote  to  their  good  friend  Bullinger  at 
Zurich  that  he  should  "  recommend  Master  Hooper  to 
be  more  moderate  in  his  labor,  for  he  preaches  four  or  at 
least  three  times  every  day,  and  I  am  afraid  lest  these 
over-abundant  exertions  should  cause  a  premature  de- 
cay." x 

Later  the  diocese  of  Gloucester  was  merged  into  that 
of  Worcester,  and  Hooper  was  called  by  the  latter  title. 
He  was  not  so  successful  in  introducing  reforms  at  Wor- 
cester as  at  Gloucester,  but  worked  hard  and  made  earn- 
est friends  and  stout  opponents  at  both  places.  He 
1  Beckett,  p.  209. 


498  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

was  a  man  of  much  gravity,  not  to  say  severity,  of  temper 
and  manner,  not  so  genial  as  Latimer  nor  so  gentle  as 
Ridley.  He  once  rebuked  for  his  vices  a  man  of  high 
social  standing,  and  so  severely  that  he  was  assaulted  for 
it;  but  later,  when  Hooper  was  in  jail  and  expecting  to 
be  executed,  this  gentleman  came  to  see  him,  apologized 
for  the  assault,  thanked  the  bishop  for  helping  him  mend 
his  life,  and  urged  him  to  escape  martyrdom  by  recant- 
ing. 

Though  somewhat  austere,  Hooper  was  a  good  and 
true  man,  kind  and  liberal  to  the  poor,  upright  and  de- 
voted in  his  office,  and  he  made  many  friends  in  Glouces- 
ter. He  was  opposed  to  the  claims  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  and 
favored  on  legal  grounds  the  accession  of  Mary ;  but  this 
did  not  save  him  from  arrest  and  trial  for  heresy ;  he  had 
been  much  too  active  and  successful  to  escape  that.  He 
was  imprisoned,  examined,  condemned,  and  sent  to 
Gloucester  to  be  burned  at  the  stake  that  his  martyrdom 
might  strike  terror  to  his  followers  there.  In  view  of 
his  popularity,  he  was  forbidden  to  speak  to  the  people. 
His  execution  was  awkwardly  managed  and  his  suffer- 
ings intense,  but  he  bore  them  heroically.  His  martyrdom 
occurred  in  February,  1555,  a  short  time  after  that  of 
Rogers. 

Not  so  famous  or  so  highly  placed  as  the  three  last 
mentioned,  but  scarcely  inferior  to  any  of  them — unless 
it  was  Latimer — in  preaching  power,  was  the  pious  and 
eloquent  John  Bradford  1  (d.  1555).  He  was  a  native  of 
Manchester,  received  a  good  school  education  and  showed 
decided  aptitude  for  business.  This  talent  got  him  a 
position  with  Sir  John  Harrington,  treasurer  and  pay- 
master of  the  English  forces  in  France.  There  were 
some  frauds  in  this  office,  and  Bradford  resigned.  While 
probably  not  deeply  involved  in  the  irregularities,  he 
seems  to  have  felt  somewhat  responsible,  and  under  Lati- 
mer's  preaching  in  London  he  was  moved,  at  great  per- 
sonal sacrifice,  to  make  restitution  of  a  large  amount  of 
conscience  money  to  the  royal  treasury.  He  engaged  in 
the  study  of  law  in  London,  but  soon  his  mind  and  heart 
turned  toward  preaching,  though  with  hesitation  and  self- 
distrust,  and  he  went  to  Cambridge  to  study. 

1  Writings  of  John  Bradford,  Rel.  Tract  Soc. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          499 

This  was  in  King  Edward's  time,  while  Martin  Butzer 
was  professor  of  theology  there.  Bradford's  zeal  in  study, 
his  amiable  character  and  unaffected  piety  won  general 
esteem.  Butzer  urged  him  to  begin  preaching,  but  Brad- 
ford hesitated  and  feared,  and  Butzer  said  to  him,  "  If 
thou  have  not  fine  manchet  bread  then  give  the  poor 
people  barley  bread."  Soon  he  was  ordained  a  deacon 
by  Ridley  at  London,  and  then  priest.  Ridley  saw  his 
value  and  appointed  him  a  prebendary  (salaried  preacher) 
at  St.  Paul's.  Besides  the  duties  of  this  office  there  were 
frequent  occasions  for  his  preaching  at  other  places,  and 
he  was  one  of  the  six  preachers  appointed  under  Edward 
VI.  as  a  sort  of  itinerant  ministry,  or  general  evangelists, 
in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Thus  the  three  years  of 
Bradford's  work  as  a  preacher  were  abundant  in  labors. 
Foxe  is  quoted  as  speaking  of  his  work  in  these  terms: 
"  Sharply  he  opened  and  reproved  sin,  sweetly  he  preached 
Christ  crucified,  pithily  he  impugned  heresies  and  errors, 
earnestly  he  persuaded  to  godly  life." 

He  was  a  man  of  deep  piety  and  was  often  engaged  in 
penitential  meditations  and  in  prayer.  One  of  his  say- 
ings, sometimes  attributed  to  Bunyan  and  others,  is  often 
quoted.  When  he  saw  a  criminal  on  the  way  to  execu- 
tion he  remarked,  "  But  for  the  grace  of  God  there  goes 
John  Bradford."  His  zeal  and  success  aroused  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  Catholics,  and  soon  after  Mary's  accession 
to  the  throne  occasion  was  sought  and  found  to  have  him 
tried  and  condemned.  A  certain  Catholic  preacher — 
Bradford  and  Rogers  being  present — took  occasion  at  St. 
Paul's  Cross  to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  late  King 
Edward  and  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  bigoted  Bishop 
Bonner.  This  so  enraged  the  crowd  that  they  were  about 
to  mob  the  preacher,  and  he  appealed  to  Bradford  for 
protection.  Bradford  reproved  the  crowd  for  their  dis- 
order, and  he  and  Rogers,  at  some  risk,  protected  the 
man  from  violence.  But  the  affair  was  perverted,  and  it 
was  made  to  appear  that  Bradford  had  really  stirred  up 
the  people  to  disorder.  So  he  was  arrested  and  sent  to 
the  Tower  along  with  Cranmer,  Ridley  and  Latimer.  At 
one  time  the  four  were  confined  in  one  room  and  they 
employed  their  time  in  Bible  study  and  mutual  help. 

Bradford's  imprisonment  was  long,  but  honorable  to 


500  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

him.  He  worked  for  God  among  his  fellow-prisoners  of 
every  sort,  endeavoring  to  lead  them  to  Christ  and  com- 
fort them  in  Christ.  So  trustworthy  was  he  that  one  of 
his  keepers  allowed  him  sometimes  to  leave  the  prison  in 
order  to  visit  the  sick  and  needy  outside,  and  Bradford  al- 
ways returned  punctually  at  the  hour  appointed,  or  even 
before.  Nor  was  this  all  the  good  man  did,  but  from  his 
prison  he  wrote  many  letters  to  friends  outside,  encour- 
aging them  to  hold  on  to  their  Protestant  faith  amid  the 
trying  years,  and  thus  he  worked  for  his  convictions  by 
his  pen  when  he  could  no  longer  preach.  These  letters 
were  widely  circulated,  and  had  a  great  influence.  Even 
after  his  condemnation,  in  January,  1555,  Bradford  re- 
mained many  months  in  prison,  but  was  at  last  brought 
to  the  stake  in  June  of  that  year.  Fuller,  describing  his 
death,  says,  "  He  endured  the  flame  as  a  fresh  gale  of 
wind  in  a  hot  summer's  day,  without  any  reluctancy; 
confirming  by  his  death  the  truth  of  that  doctrine  which 
he  had  so  diligently  and  powerfully  preached  during  his 
life." 

Of  Bradford's  preaching  several  valuable  specimens 
remain,  and  they  confirm  fully  the  contemporary  accounts 
of  his  excellent  gifts.  His  letters  and  a  few  treatises  set 
forth  in  clear  thinking,  plain  style  and  with  warmth  the 
fundamental  doctrines  and  principles  of  the  Reformation ; 
and  there  are  two  notable  sermons.  One  of  these  is 
rather  polemical  in  tone,  being  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
attacking  the  Catholic  doctrines,  but  it,  as  well  as  the 
other,  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Bradford  is  less 
expository  than  the  Germans,  less  general  and  gossipy 
than  Latimer,  and  at  the  same  time  less  powerful  and 
fresh.  But  his  grasp  of  Scripture  is  accurate  and  firm, 
and  his  manner  of  presenting  the  truth,  both  in  arrange- 
ment and  language,  is  singularly  clear,  fervent  and  win- 
ning. During  one  of  his  evangelizing  tours,  early  in 
1553,  Bradford  preached  a  notable  sermon  on  repentance, 
which  he  was  induced  afterwards  to  write  out,  and  it 
was  published  only  a  short  time  before  the  death  of  the 
young  king.  In  the  preface  he  tells  how  he  came  to  pub- 
lish it.  After  speaking  of  the  great  need  of  repentance 
among  all  classes,  he  says :  "  This  to  the  end  that  for  my 
part  I  might  help,  I  have  now  put  forth  this  Sermon  on 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          501 

Repentance,  which  has  lain  by  me  half  a  year  at  least 
as  to  the  most  part  of  it.  For  the  last  winter  I  was 
abroad  preaching  in  the  country,  my  chance  was  to  make 
a  sermon  on  repentance,  which  was  earnestly  by  divers 
desired  of  me  that  I  should  give  it  to  them  written,  or 
else  put  it  forth  in  print.  I,  for  the  satisfying  of  my 
promise  and  profiting  of  the  simple,  ignorant  and  rude, 
have  now  caused  this  sermon  to  be  printed ;  which  I  be- 
seech God,  for  his  Christ's  sake,  to  use  as  a  mean  whereby 
of  his  mercy  it  may  please  him  to  work  in  me  and  many 
others  hearty  repentance  for  our  sins  to  the  glory  of  his 
name.  Thus  fare  thou  well  in  the  Lord.  This  I2th 
day  of  July,  1553."  It  is  difficult  to  speak  in  too  high 
terms  of  the  sermon  itself;  for  it  is  the  very  meat  and 
marrow  of  the  gospel,  simply  and  clearly  divided  and  ar- 
ranged, put  in  vigorous,  plain  yet  dignified  and  noble 
style,  with  many  felicities  of  thought  and  phrase,  and 
charged  through  and  through  with  the  spirit  of  piety, 
earnestness  and  devotion.  The  text  is  our  Lord's  procla- 
mation in  Matt.  4:17,  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  The  introduction  is  natural  and 
simple,  the  explanation  of  the  text  is  correct.  He  makes 
repentance  to  consist  of  three  elements :  a  genuine  sorrow 
in  view  of  sin,  some  persuasion  or  hope  of  God's  willing- 
ness to  pardon  sin  for  Christ's  sake,  and  a  purpose  to 
amend  and  turn  to  God,  though  the  actual  conversion  is 
rather  a  fruit  of  repentance  than  repentance  itself.  On 
this  plan  his  discourse  proceeds,  with  appropriate  sub- 
divisions, in  which  he  holds  up  the  motives  to  sorrow  for 
sin,  the  tokens  of  God's  willingness  to  forgive,  and  the  re- 
sults of  a  true  purpose  to  amend.  In  dwelling  on  God's 
willingness  to  forgive,  he  adduces  the  death  of  Christ 
as  the  supreme  token  of  the  divine  mercy  in  these  words : 
"  This  death  of  Christ  therefore  look  on  as  the  very 
pledge  of  God's  love  towards  thee,  whosoever  thou  art, 
how  deeply  soever  thou  hast  sinned.  See,  God's  hands 
are  nailed,  they  cannot  strike  thee ;  his  feet  also,  he  can- 
not run  from  thee;  his  arms  are  wide  open  to  embrace 
thee ;  his  head  hangs  down  to  kiss  thee ;  his  very  heart 
is  open,  so  that  therein  see,  look,  spy,  behold,  and  thou 
shalt  see  nothing  therein  but  love,  love,  love  to  thee. 
Hide  thee,  therefore ;  lay  thy  head  there  with  the  evangel- 


502  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

ist."  The  careful  reader  of  this  sermon  will  not  wonder 
at  Ridley's  emphatic  testimony  of  Bradford :  "  He  was  a 
man  by  whom  God  hath  and  doth  work  wonders  in  set- 
ting forth  his  word." 

Among  the  group  of  England's  greatest  preachers  at 
this  time  must  be  mentioned  the  famous  Scotch  reformer, 
John  Knox.  His  life  and  work  belong  principally,  of 
course,  to  Scotland,  and  will  be  treated  more  fully  later ; 
but  he  spent,  during  Edward's  reign,  five  fruitful  years 
in  England,  and  left  an  influence  behind  him  that  en- 
dured for  generations.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  power- 
ful Puritan  sentiment  in  the  Church  of  England  was 
largely  due  to  Knox  as  well  as  to  Hooper  and  others.1 
On  his  release  from  the  French  galleys,  most  likely  at 
King  Edward's  intervention,  Knox  came  to  England  in 
1549,  and  was  appointed  preacher  first  at  Berwick,  where 
he  attracted  large  congregations  and  introduced  reforms. 
His  activity  brought  him  into  conflict  with  Tunstall, 
bishop  of  Durham,  but  Knox  had  the  best  of  the  con- 
troversy, and  was  let  alone.  Later  he  was  assigned  to 
Newcastle  as  preacher,  was  appointed  a  royal  chaplain, 
and  offered  the  bishopric  of  Rochester.  More  resolute 
than  Hooper,  he  declined  the  office,  for  he  could  not  ac- 
cept episcopacy  and  other  Anglican  arrangements  as 
scriptural.  When  called  before  the  Council  to  confer 
on  the  matter  he  was  told  that  they  were  "  sorry  he  was 
of  a  contrary  mind  to  the  common  order,"  and  he  replied 
that  he  was  even  more  sorry  that  "  the  common  order  " 
was  contrary  to  the  institution  of  Christ.  When  it  came 
his  turn  to  preach  as  royal  chaplain  before  the  court,  on 
one  occasion  he  was  bold  to  daring  in  denouncing  the 
notorious  corruptions  of  some  of  the  high  officials  about 
the  young  king.  He  is  reported  to  have  said,2  "  What 
wonder  is  it  that  a  young  and  innocent  king  be  deceived  by 
crafty,  covetous,  wicked  and  ungodly  councillors?  I  am 
greatly  afraid  that  Ahithopel  is  councillor,  that  Judas  bears 
the  purse,  and  that  Shebnah  is  scribe,  controller  and  treas- 
urer." Yet  afterwards  the  preacher  reproached  himself 
that  he  had  not  been  a  "  true  soldier  "  nor  "  so  fervent  in 
rebuking  manifest  iniquity  "  as  he  ought  to  have  been ! 

1  See  Prof.  Lorimer's  book  on  Knox  in  England,  referred  to  by 
Broadus,  Hist,  Prea.,  p.  194.  a  Beckett,  p.  213. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         503 

Worthy  of  mention  here  was  another  Scotchman  who, 
after  a  period  of  activity  in  his  own  country,  came  to 
England  in  1547.  This  was  John  Rough  (d.  1557),  who 
had  acquired  a  fair  education  in  Scotland,  had  also  done 
some  effective  work  as  a  preacher  of  reform  doctrines, 
but,  escaping  to  England  before  the  fall  of  St.  Andrews, 
received  appointment  as  preacher  at  Carlisle,  and  later 
at  Berwick,  Newcastle  and  Hull.  He  did  efficient  service 
at  all  these  places  till  Mary's  accession  drove  him  out  of 
England,  and  he  retired  to  Friesland,  where  he  and  his 
wife  supported  themselves  by  knitting  garments.  He 
ventured  to  London  on  business  where  he  was  induced 
to  become  pastor  of  a  secret  Protestant  church.  The 
congregation  was  betrayed  by  one  of  its  own  mem- 
bers and  Rough  was  captured,  tried  before  Bonner,  and 
sent  to  the  stake  in  December,  1557.  No  sermons  of  his 
remain,  but  Knox  and  others  bear  emphatic  testimony  to 
the  power  of  his  preaching. 

A  very  useful  man  in  Edward's  days,  and  still  more  so 
in  the  early  years  of  Elizabeth,  was  Thomas  Lever  (1521- 
I577)>  who  was  born  in  Lancashire,  educated  at  Cam- 
bridge and  then  converted  to  Protestantism.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1550,  he  preached  with  great  acceptance  at  the 
Shrouds,  in  St.  Paul's  churchyard,  London,  and  was  in- 
vited to  preach  before  the  king  in  the  following  Lent. 
In  December  of  that  same  year  he  did  some  notable 
preaching  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  and  powerfully  denounced 
existing  evils.  Some  later  sermons  before  the  king  called 
forth  warm  approval  from  Knox  and  others.  During  the 
days  of  persecution  under  Mary  he  was  in  Europe  in 
touch  with  the  exiles  and  other  reformers,  but  returned  at 
Elizabeth's  accession  and  was  busily  engaged  in  preach- 
ing to  the  end  of  his  useful  life.  He  was  Puritan  in  his 
convictions  and  did  not  escape  controversy  and  trials  in 
his  dealings  with  the  leaders  of  the  Anglican  party.  It 
is  said  of  him : *  "  Preaching  was  his  talent.  His  sermons 
resembled  Latimer's  in  their  bluntness  and  boldness,  and 
his  reputation  was  made  by  his  sharp  rebukes  of  the 
courtiers  when  preaching  before  Edward  VI." 

One  of  the  most  attractive  and  interesting  figures 
among  the  English  Reformation  preachers  is  that  of 
1  Article  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. 


504  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

Bernard  Gilpin  (1517-1583),  who  was  called  the  "Apos- 
tle of  the  North."  He  came  of  excellent  family  in  West- 
moreland, was  a  nephew  of  the  celebrated  bishop  Tunstall, 
and  had  other  high  connections.  He  was  educated  at 
Oxford,  was  a  fine  student,  and  only  very  slowly  came  to 
Protestant  views.  When  he  was  ordained  a  priest  in  1549 
he  scrupled  at  the  oath  which  recognized  the  king's  su- 
premacy, and  only  accepted  it  with  a  condition;  and  he 
disputed  ably  with  Hooper  in  defence  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  Later  he  was  set  to  dispute  with  Peter  Martyr 
Vermigli,  then  professor  at  Oxford,  but  his  studies  in 
preparation  for  this  proposed  contest  upset  his  mind  as 
to  some  of  the  Romanist  positions.  This  was  the  entering 
wedge,  and  gradually  he  became  satisfied  of  the  sound- 
ness of  the  reform  views.  His  uncle  Tunstall  tried  to 
help  him,  appointed  him  to  various  positions  in  his  diocese 
of  Durham  and  would  not  suffer  him  to  be  molested, 
even  though  Gilpin  advanced  rapidly  in  Protestant  views 
and  preached  them  boldly.  But  even  Tunstall's  influence 
could  not  always  shield  the  outspoken  preacher  from  the 
relentless  Catholics  of  Mary's  time,  and  in  the  last  year 
of  her  reign  Gilpin  was  summoned  to  London  to  answer 
for  his  heresies.  On  the  way  he  had  a  fall  and  broke  his 
leg,  and  his  prosecution  fell  through,  the  queen  having 
died  before  he  got  well. 

Gilpin  was  strongly  Puritan  in  his  leanings,  so  that  he 
declined  a  bishopric  and  also  a  professorship  at  Oxford, 
because  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  remains  of  "  popery" 
left  in  the  Anglican  settlement  under  Elizabeth  and  her 
prelates.  With  some  trials  and  controversies  growing  out 
of  these  differences  he  continued  his  useful  ministry  to 
the  end  of  his  life.  One  only  sermon  remains  from  him, 
but  his  reputation  as  a  preacher  and  pastor  was  very  great 
among  his  contemporaries,  not  only  for  learning,  piety 
and  eloquence,  but  for  unusual  graces  of  character. 

The  last  of  the  Reformation  preachers  in  England  to  be 
noticed  is  that  group  of  distinguished  prelates  who  in  the 
early  years  of  Queen  Elizabeth  settled  the  Anglican 
church  system  in  the  forms  which  haye  continued  to  be 
characteristic  of  it.  None  among  them  had  commanding 
pulpit  gifts,  but  a  few  at  least  of  the  well-known  leaders 
cannot  be  omitted  in  a  history  of  preaching. 

The    scholarly    and    able   archbishop   of    Canterbury, 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          505 

Matthew  Parker  (1504-1575)  was  noted  rather  as  the 
wise  and  conciliatory  prelate  who  successfully  guided 
the  Anglican  establishment  between  the  Romanist  ten- 
dencies of  the  queen  and  others  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
extreme  Puritanism  of  the  more  radical  Protestants  on 
the  other.  Among  his  numerous  writings  no  sermons  are 
mentioned.  The  slight  merit  of  the  authorship  of  the 
homily  on  Matrimony  in  the  sensible  but  sapless  second 
Book  of  Homilies  is  deemed  to  be  his ;  but  concerning 
his  earlier  years  it  is  said  that  "  to  his  acquirements  as  a 
theologian  he  united  a  popular  style  of  pulpit  oratory 
which  induced  Cranmer  in  1533  to  license  him  to  preach 
throughout  the  southern  province."  But  the  fame  of 
Parker  is  that  of  an  educator,  scholar  and  prelate" 
rather  than  preacher. 

More  of  a  preacher  but  less  of  a  prelate  than  Parker 
was  his  successor  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  Edmund 
Grindal  (d.  1583),  who  in  his  earlier  years  had  been 
recognized  as  a  preacher  of  no  little  ability,  and  had  held 
pulpits  of  prominence  in  Edward's  time  under  Ridley, 
bishop  of  London.  Like  so  many  others  an  exile  in 
Mary's  reign,  he  returned  under  Elizabeth  to  take  up 
the  heavy  work  of  restoring  wasted  Protestantism  in 
England.  He  was  far  more  Puritan  than  Parker,  never- 
theless accepted  the  bishopric  of  London  and  gave  Parker 
and  the  queen,  no  less  than  himself,  considerable  trouble 
in  his  scruples  as  to  many  of  the  proposed  Anglican  in- 
stitutions. To  get  him  out  of  the  way  he  was  appointed 
to  the  archbishopric  of  York,  and  on  Parker's  death — 
because  for  the  moment  it  suited  the  queen's  shifting 
policy, — he  was  made  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  As  he 
was  a  peace-loving  man  and  not  wholly  in  accord  with 
the  drift  of  things,  his  bishoprics  were  a  continual  trial 
to  him,  and  he  doubtless  would  have  been  happier,  and 
more  useful  too,  had  he  remained  simply  a  preacher  in 
some  place  suitable  to  his  learning  and  talents.  A  me- 
morial discourse  on  the  death  of  the  emperor  Ferdinand, 
and  the  fourth  homily  in  the  Second  Book,  on  Good 
Works,  especially  Fasting,  seem  to  be  all  of  his  sermons 
that  survive,  and  these  would  not  make  a  man  famous. 
The  homily,  however,  presents  clearly  the  Protestant 
doctrine  as  to  good  works  and  treats  the  matter  of  fast- 
ing with  good  sense  and  clearness. 


506  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

The  successor  of  Grindal  as  archbishop  of  York,  Edwin 
Sandys  (d.  1588),  was  like  that  prelate  in  his  ecclesiasti- 
cal principles,  but  very  unlike  him  in  character.  He  was 
educated  at  Cambridge,  and  was  a  friend  of  Martin  But- 
zer  while  that  theologian  was  professor  there.  On  Ed- 
ward's death  he  supported  Lady  Jane  Grey  and  preached 
a  sermon  upholding  her  cause  which  is  said  to  have 
"pulled  many  tears  out  of  the  eyes  of  the  biggest  of  them," 
presumably  the  leading  men  of  the  time.  Naturally  he 
was  arrested  by  Mary's  partisans  and  put  into  the  Tower, 
but  through  somebody's  favor  he  managed  to  get  away 
to  the  Continent,  where  he  remained  till  Elizabeth's  acces- 
sion. He  also  was  more  Puritan  than  Parker,  and  his 
views  on  church  polity  and  some  other  questions  kept  him 
in  continual  controversies.  But  his  abilities  and  staunch 
Protestantism  made  him  too  useful  to  be  overlooked  in 
restoring  the  cause,  and  he  was  first  made  bishop  of 
Worcester,  and  then,  on  Grindal's  promotion  to  Canter- 
bury, archbishop  of  York.  During  these  years  some- 
thing is  said  of  his  preaching,  and  a  good  deal  of  his  quar- 
rels. Some  of  his  sermons  were  printed  in  1585  and  re- 
printed in  several  later  editions.  They  are  not  held  to  be 
of  very  great  value. 

The  best  preacher  among  these  Elizabethan  prelates 
was  John  Jewel  (d.  1571),  bishop  of  Salisbury.1  Born 
in  Devonshire  in  1522,  he  was  educated  at  several  pre- 
liminary schools  and  studied  in  two  collges  at  Oxford. 
Here  one  of  his  fruitful  tasks  was  the  making  of  a  critical 
comparison  between  the  Bible  versions  of  Tindale  and 
Coverdale.  Jewel  was  a  laborious  student,  and  worked 
so  hard  as  permanently  to  injure  his  health.  On  getting 
his  degree  he  was  appointed  to  lecture  for  a  while  on 
Latin  and  Rhetoric,  and  his  lectures  were  well  attended. 
In  1547  Peter  Martyr  Vermigli  came  as  professor  to 
Oxford,  and  during  his  work  there  he  exercised  a  pro- 
found influence  upon  Jewel.  When  and  where  Jewel 
was  ordained  is  not  known,  but  he  appears  as  a  licensed 
preacher  in  1551,  became  vicar  at  a  small  village  near 

1  Works  of  Bishop  Jewel,  with  Featley's  abridgment  of  Hum- 
phrey's Life  prefixed,  printed  at  London  in  1640 ;  art.  in  Diet.  Nat. 
^iog.,  etc.  The  famous  "  Challenge  Sermon  "  is  reprinted  in  Fish, 
Masterpieces,  etc.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  146  ff. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          507 

Oxford,  and  got  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Divinity  in 
1552,  preaching  on  the  occasion  an  excellent  discourse  in 
Latin,  of  which  we  shall  see  see  more  later.  On  the  ac- 
cession of  Mary,  Jewel  was  deprived  of  his  places,  and, 
though  he  sacrificed  his  convictions  and  signed  certain 
articles,  he  was  still  suspected  and  found  it  necessary  to 
leave  England.  At  Frankfort,  where  were  Knox  and  a 
number  of  English  exiles,  Jewel  was  coldly  received  till 
he  made  public  acknowledgment  of  his  weakness  and 
error  in  recanting,  and  reaffirmed  his  real  views.  Later 
he  was  with  his  friend  Vermigli  at  Strasburg  and  Zurich. 

In  1559  Jewel  gladly  returned  to  England,  and  became 
active  in  helping  to  restore  the  Protestant  cause.  At  first 
strongly  inclined  to  Puritanism,  he  quickly  acquiesced  in 
the  Anglican  compromises,  and  became  one  of  the  clear- 
est and  strongest  expounders  and  defenders  of  the  Eng- 
lish church  system.  Like  others,  he  soon  saw  that,  with 
the  temper  of  the  queen  and  of  a  large  element  of  the 
people,  it  would  be  impossible  to  establish  either  the 
Puritan  extreme  or  its  opposite.  In  doctrine,  however,  he 
always  held  with  the  Reformed  confessions  and  wrote  to 
Vermigli,  "  As  to  matters  of  doctrine,  we  do  not  differ 
from  you  by  a  nail's  breadth."  He  displayed  much  activ- 
ity in  preaching  and  other  work  about  London.  In  a 
sermon  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  in  1559  he  made  his  famous 
challenge  to  the  papists,  and  it  was  repeated  in  a  sermon 
delivered  before  the  court  in  March,  1560,  and  again  at 
St.  Paul's  Cross  later  in  the  same  month.  The  challenge 
was  to  the  effect  that  if  any  one  could  prove  the  essential 
Romanist  doctrines  as  to  the  papacy,  purgatory,  masses, 
transubstantiation,  and  so  on,  by  Scripture  or  by  any 
church  teacher  for  six  hundred  years  after  Christ,  he, 
Jewel,  would  subscribe  to  it  and  renounce  Protestantism. 
These  sermons  were  not  written  before  delivery,  but  the 
last  of  them  was  soon  written  out  and  published — 
"  shortly  set  forth  as  near  as  the  author  could  call  it  to 
remembrance,  without  any  alteration  or  addition."  The 
challenge  was  taken  up  by  two  Catholics,  and  Jewel  was 
led  into  a  controversy  which  went  on  for  some  time. 

In  1560,  while  this  debate  was  on,  Jewel  was  made 
bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  went  to  his  diocese.  He  found 
much  to  do,  and  was  very  diligent,  not  only  in  visiting  and 


508  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

administration,  but  in  preaching,  because  of  the  great 
dearth  of  preachers.  In  April,  1561,  he  filled  another 
preaching  engagement  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  appeared  his  great  and  famous  Apology  for 
the  Church  of  England.  This  was  the  first  elaborate 
statement  of  the  Anglican  position  in  a  work  of  first-rate 
importance,  and  it  was  immediately  accepted  as  a  clear 
and  powerful  exposition  of  that  view.  It  remains  one  of 
the  classic  treatises  of  the  Anglican  ecclesiology.  The 
Apology  provoked  a  fresh  attack  from  the  Catholics. 
What  with  these  writings  and  controversies,  the  cares  of 
the  diocese,  activity  in  the  general  work  of  the  church,  and 
assiduous  preaching,  Jewel's  never  very  strong  health 
gave  way.  In  1571  he  came  home  from  Parliament  much 
exhausted,  but  immediately  undertook  a  visitation  of  his 
diocese.  To  the  remonstrance  of  a  friend  he  answered, 
"  A  bishop  had  best  die  preaching,"  and  it  was  not  long 
before  the  end  came,  in  September,  1571. 

In  Daniel  Featley's  abridgment  of  Dr.  Humphrey's 
life  of  Jewel,  prefixed  to  an  early  edition  of  his  works, 
occurs  a  quaint  but  striking  eulogy,  a  part  of  which  runs 
thus :  "  And  surely,  if  ever  to  any,  then  unto  him  his 
bishoprike  was  a  continuall  worke  of  ruling  and  govern- 
ing, not  only  by  the  pastorall  staffe  of  his  jurisdiction  in 
his  consistory,  but  also  in  the  court  of  men's  consciences 
by  the  golden  sceptre  of  God's  word  preached.  The 
memorie  of  his  assiduitie  in  preaching,  carefulnesse  in 
providing  pastours,  resolutenesse  in  reforming  abuses, 
bountie  in  relieving  the  poore,  wisdome  in  composing  liti- 
gious strifes,  equitie  in  judging  spirituall  causes,  faith- 
fulnesse  in  keeping  and  sinceritie  in  bestowing  church 
goods,  is  as  an  ointment  powred  out  and  blowen  abroad 
thorow  the  diocesse  of  Sarum  by  the  breath  of  everie 
man's  commendation." 

Jewel  was  a  sound  scholar,  with  a  clear  head  and  a 
good  memory,  logical  and  correct.  His  writings  show 
the  confidence  of  one  who  is  conscious  of  accurate  learn- 
ing. His  sermons  lack  warmth,  but  not  conviction ;  fer- 
vor, but  not  strength ;  imagination  and  passion,  but  not 
logic  and  clearness.  The  Latin  sermon  delivered  at  Ox- 
ford for  his  degree  in  divinity,  and  done  into  English 
by  Dr.  Humphrey,  expresses  with  force  his  own  views  of 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          509 

the  preaching  office,  early  formed,  but  never  abandoned. 
From  the  text,  I  Peter  4:11,  "If  any  man  speak  let  him 
talk  as  the  words  of  God,"  he  deduces  the  simple  theme 
and  division:  (i)  That  the  preacher  should  preach; 
(2)  What  he  should  preach;  (3)  How  he  should  preach. 
In  urging  the  importance  of  preaching,  he  says :  "  It  is 
not  enough  to  know  I  wot  not  what  learning.  The  devils, 
perhaps,  know  more  than  any  of  us  all.  It  belongeth  unto 
a  pastor  not  so  much  to  have  learned  many  things  as  to 
have  taught  much."  Speaking  of  people's  unwillingness 
to  hear  as  an  incentive  rather  than  a  discouragement  to 
diligence,  he  says,  "  Let  us  bring  forth  the  light,  and 
God  will  open  their  eyes;  let  us  beat  at  their  ears,  and 
God  will  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh ;  let  us  give  the  word, 
and  God  will  give  the  Spirit ;  let  us  plant  and  water,  and 
God  in  due  time  will  give  the  increase."  The  famous 
challenge  sermon  is  naturally  rather  polemical  in  tone, 
and  is  somewhat  overloaded  with  learned  quotation,  but 
it  is  logical  and  vigorous  and  not  devoid  of  occasional 
passages  of  feeling  and  power.  In  general.  Jewel's  ser- 
mons lack  the  breeziness  of  Latimer's  and  the  devout 
glow  of  Bradford's,  but  they  are  strong,  clear  and  sensible 
presentations  of  the  doctrines  and  principles  dear  to  all  the 
reformers. 

3.    THE  SCOTCH  REFORMATION 

The  religious  situation  in  Scotland  before  the  Reforma- 
tion was  dark  and  deplorable  in  the  extreme.  A  turbulent 
and  violent  nobility ;  a  wealthy,  luxurious,  corrupt  and  ra- 
pacious clergy ;  a  people  sunken  in  ignorance  and  super- 
stition; these  are  the  sombre  outlines  of  a  picture  whose 
details  may  be  left  to  the  imagination.  Yet  some  begin- 
nings of  better  things  were  made  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Some  influences  of  the  revival  of  learning  had 
entered  the  schools,  and  the  writings  of  Luther  and  other 
reformers,  though  forbidden,  were  not  wholly  unknown. 
By  the  time  Knox  began  his  early  reformatory  work,  in 
1542,  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  had  made  con- 
siderable progress,  not  only  among  the  common  people, 
but  also  among  the  nobility  and  gentry,  and  there  were 
not  a  few  who  were  ready  to  fight  and  die,  if  need  be, 
for  the  faith. 


510  A  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

4.    PREDECESSORS  OF  KNOX 

Besides  the  influence  of  teachers,  of  Reformation  litera- 
ture, of  private  conference,  there  were  a  few  preachers  1 
before  Knox  who  dared,  at  great  peril  from  the  dominant 
Romanist  clergy,  with  Beaton  at  their  head,  to  lift  up 
their  voices  in  favor  of  reform.  Among  these  three  are 
deserving  of  special  mention. 

Patrick  Hamilton  (c.  1504-1528),  the  young  and  noble 
martyr  for  the  truth,  came  of  a  family  of  rank  and  dis- 
tinction, and  was  born  near  Glasgow,  probably  in  1504. 
He  was  designed  for  the  priesthood,  and  after  receiving 
preliminary  education  in  the  schools  he  went  to  Paris — 
where  he  got  his  master's  degree  in  1520 — and  probably 
to  Louvain  also.  Returning  to  Scotland,  he  studied  a 
while  at  St.  Andrews.  About  1525  he  began  to  show  de- 
cided sympathy  for  the  reformed  views  and  to  teach  them. 
Falling  under  suspicion,  and  being  in  danger  of  prose- 
cution, he  retired  from  Scotland  and  went  to  Germany, 
where,  at  Wittenberg,  he  studied  with  Luther  and  Mel- 
anchthon;  and  at  Marburg  with  the  French  exile  and 
professor,  Francois  Lambert.  But  the  state  of  his  own 
country  bore  on  his  mind  and  gave  him  no  rest,  so  that, 
against  the  earnest  remonstrance  of  Lambert,  he  deter- 
mined to  return  to  Scotland  and  do  what  he  could  to  in- 
troduce the  Reformation.  He  came  back  in  1527,  mar- 
ried, and  began  to  preach  the  Protestant  doctrines.  It  is 
not  certain  that  he  had  ever  been  ordained  a  priest,  at 
any  rate,  he  held  no  clerical  charge,  and  his  preaching 
was,  therefore,  irregular,  and  that  fact,  as  well  as  his  doc- 
trine and  his  zeal,  aroused  speedy  and  fatal  opposition. 
He  was  summoned  before  Archbishop  Beaton  at  St.  An- 
drews to  answer  charges  of  heresy.  He  foresaw  his  fate, 
but  bravely  went  to  meet  it.  With  show  of  consideration 
he  was  granted  time  to  consider  and  recant,  but  used  his 
respite  instead  to  proclaim  his  doctrines  as  much  as  he 
could.  He  was  condemned  and  executed  as  a  heretic  in 
1528.  His  youth,  rank,  earnestness,  and  sad  death  cre- 
ated profound  impressions,  led  many  to  investigate  the 

1  McCrie's  Life  of  Knox;  Brown's  Life  of  Knox;  notices  by 
Blaikie  in  his  Preachers  of  Scotland,  and  by  Taylor  in  his  Scot- 
tish Pulpit. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         $11 

causes  of  his  condemnation,  and  thus  resulted  in  further- 
ing rather  than  suppressing  the  progress  of  the  new 
views.  His  eloquence  and  zeal  gave  promise  of  a  noble 
career  as  preacher  had  he  been  spared  to  pursue  his  re- 
forming course. 

Another  preacher  and  martyr  was  George  Wishart 
(d.  1546),  who  died  for  his  convictions  nearly  twenty 
years  after  Hamilton;  having  suffered  under  the  second 
Archbishop  Beaton,  who  was  also  a  cardinal.  Wishart 
came  of  a  family  near  Montrose,  but  details  as  to  his 
early  life  are  wanting.  There  are  traditions  and  traces 
of  his  education  and  of  his  good  knowledge  of  Greek — 
unusual  among  his  countrymen  then.  About  1538  he,  or 
a  person  of  similar  name,  appears  in  certain  records  in 
England  as  under  trial  for  heresy;  and  about  this  time 
it  seems  that  he  studied  for  a  while  in  Germany.  Later, 
in  Scotland,  he  translated  the  Helvetic  Confession  and 
spread  it  abroad.  In  1543  he  is  found,  living  in  great 
simplicity  and  piety,  and  studying  very  hard,  at  Cam- 
bridge, in  England.  The  next  year  he  returned  to  Scot- 
land and  took  up  his  reformatory  ministry  in  earnest. 

The  younger  Beaton,  the  cardinal,  was  now  at  the 
head  of  the  Catholics  in  Scotland,  and  was  as  relentless 
as  his  uncle  had  been  in  persecution  of  the  reformers. 
Wishart  was  to  go  the  way  of  Hamilton,  but  he  went  his 
course  with  courage  and  devotion.  A  part  of  McCrie's 
brief  but  eloquent  account  of  Wishart  in  his  Life  of 
Knox 1  may  be  better  transcribed  than  condensed :  "  Sel- 
dom do  we  meet  in  ecclesiastical  history  with  a  character 
so  amiable  and  interesting  as  that  of  George  Wishart. 
Excelling  all  his  countrymen  at  that  period  in  learning, 
of  the  most  persuasive  eloquence,  irreproachable  life, 
courteous  and  affable  in  manners,  his  fervent  piety,  zeal 
and  courage  in  the  cause  of  truth  were  tempered  with 
uncommon  meekness,  modesty,  patience,  prudence  and 
charity.  In  his  tour  of  preaching  through  Scotland  he 
was  usually  accompanied  by  some  of  the  principal  gentry ; 
and  the  people,  who  flocked  to  hear  him,  were  ravished 
with  his  discourses." 

He  had  a  great  influence  over  Knox,  who  often  accom- 
panied him  in  his  preaching  journeys.  When  Wishart 


512  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

was  arrested  to  be  taken  before  Cardinal  Beaton  for  trial 
Knox  wished  to  go  with  him,  but  Wishart  said,  "  Nay,  re- 
turn to  your  bairns  [his  pupils]  ;  ane  is  sufficient  for  a 
sacrifice."  Thus  he  clearly  foresaw  what  was  coming. 
And  so,  early  in  1546,  this  preacher  also  suffered  at  the 
stake ;  but  left  a  name  and  work  behind  him.  His  death 
was  speedily  and  terribly  avenged.  A  strong  party,  com- 
posed of  those  who  had  various  and  sore  grievances 
against  the  harsh  and  tyrannous  cardinal,  captured  the 
castle  of  St.  Andrews  and  put  the  cruel  prelate  to  death. 
Though  this  murder  was  occasioned  largely  by  other 
things  than  religious  animosities,  there  is  probably  no 
doubt  that  many  of  the  reformers  were  in  sympathy 
with  the  conspirators.  Even  Knox,  though  he  seems  not 
to  have  been  chargeable  with  any  direct  share  in  it,  after- 
wards sought  in  some  degree  to  justify  the  act  as  the  de- 
served execution  of  one  who  could  not  be  reached  by  the 
processes  of  law.  The  conspirators  retained  possession 
of  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews  and  became  the  nucleus  of 
the  Reformed  party  in  Scotland. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  ministry  and 
fate  of  John  Rough  (d.  1557)  in  England,  but  his  earlier 
work  in  Scotland  claims  brief  notice  here.  Far  less  cul- 
tured than  Hamilton,  Wishart  or  Knox,  Rough  had  a 
glowing  zeal  for  the  cause  of  reform  and  a  ready  popular 
eloquence  that  acquired  for  him  great  reputation  as  a 
preacher.  He  had  been  a  monk,  but  on  the  Earl  of  Ar- 
ran's  request  had  been  released  from  the  cloister  and 
made  a  chaplain  to  that  nobleman.  When  Arran  relin- 
quished the  reformed  faith  and  became  regent,  Rough  re- 
tired for  a  while ;  but  after  the  murder  of  Cardinal 
Beaton,  and  upon  invitation  of  the  conspirators,  now  in 
possession  of  St.  Andrews,  he  became  a  minister  to  the 
congregation  there.  When  Knox  came  to  St.  Andrews 
Rough  urgently  pressed  upon  him  the  duty  of  preaching, 
as  we  shall  see,  but  shortly  afterwards  went  to  England, 
where  his  work  has  already  been  described. 

5.    JOHN  KNOX  AND  His  WORK 

As  is  well  known,  the  preeminent  name  among  the 
preachers  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  is  that  of  John 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         513 

Knox *  (1505-1572).  Not  so  original  or  great  as  Luther, 
Zwingli  or  Calvin,  he  yet  occupies  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  Protestantism  in  his  own  country  a  position  simi- 
lar to  theirs  relative  to  the  movements  associated  with 
their  names. 

John  Knox  was  born  in  the  county  of  East  Lothian, 
near  Haddington,  of  respectable  parents  of  the  middle 
class,  in  the  year  1505.  His  father  had  means  enough  to 
give  the  boy  a  good  education,  and  after  preparatory 
schooling  he  entered  Glasgow  University,  where  he 
studied  under  John  Major,  and  formed  a  lasting  friend- 
ship with  the  gifted  George  Buchanan,  poet  and  man  of 
letters. 

About  1530  Knox  was  ordained  a  priest,  but  soon  after- 
ward began  to  study  the  Fathers,  with  the  effect  that 
Jerome  led  him  to  the  Scriptures  and  Augustine  to  a 
more  evangelical  theology.  Knox  lectured  at  Glasgow 
and  also  at  St.  Andrews,  and  at  the  latter  place  he  not 
only  began  to  teach  a  better  theology,  but  to  denounce  cor- 
ruptions in  the  church.  By  the  year  1542  he  had  become 
fully  committed  to  the  reformed  faith. 

Beaton's  attention  being  directed  to  Knox,  he  found 
it  prudent  to  leave  St.  Andrews,  and  soon  after  found  a 
place  of  protection  as  tutor  in  the  family  of  Hugh  Doug- 
las of  Langniddrie,  a  nobleman  who  sympathized  with 
the  reformed  views.  The  son  of  another  gentleman,  John 
Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  was  also  placed  under  his  care; 
and  Knox's  distinctive  work  as  a  reformer  may  now  be 
said  in  this  modest  way  to  have  begun.  For  he  not  only 
taught  his  pupils  the  rudiments  of  learning,  but  the  ten- 
ets of  the  gospel ;  and  others  besides  his  scholars  were 
admitted  at  times  to  his  Bible  lectures  and  catechism. 
These  more  public  instructions  were  given  in  a  chapel 
on  his  patron's  estate.  This  went  on  for  several  years, 
and  Knox  attached  himself  with  ardor  to  Wishart  on 
some  of  that  preacher's  expeditions. 

After  the  assassination  of  Beaton,  his  successor,  Hamil- 
ton, pursued  the  reformers  with  unremitting  vigor,  and 
Knox  was  seriously  thinking  of  leaving  the  country.  But 

xThe  works  of  McCrie,  Brown,  Lorimer,  and  others  previously 
referred  to,  Knox's  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland,  and 
numerous  other  sources. 


514  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

his  friends  and  patrons  were  loath  to  lose  his  services  as  a 
teacher,  and  persuaded  him  to  go  with  his  pupils  to  the 
congregation  of  the  reformers,  who  were  maintaining 
themselves  still  at  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews.  Rough,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  already  installed  there  as  minister,  and 
he  welcomed  Knox  as  an  able  recruit.  Knox  continued 
the  kind  of  instructions  he  had  been  giving  at  Langnid- 
drie,  and  his  expositions  of  the  Scripture  and  power  of 
speech  immediately  attracted  attention.  The  result  was 
that,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  congregation,  and  at 
Rough's  solemn  and  earnest  request,  Knox  was  also  called 
as  a  preacher  to  the  reformers  at  St.  Andrews.  It  was 
altogether  an  interesting,  not  to  say  anomalous,  situation. 
Here  was  an  unorganized  assembly  of  reformers,  not 
formally  out  of  the  old  church,  gathered  about  a  nucleus 
of  armed  men,  who  had  upon  them  the  guilt  of  Beaton's 
assassination,  and  were  maintaining  themselves  by  force 
against  the  government;  and  they  had  called  as  their 
preachers  an  ex-monk,  John  Rough,  and  an  ex-priest, 
John  Knox !  But  irregularities  were  not  of  much  weight 
to  men  who  felt  sure  of  the  truth  they  held,  and  believed 
they  were  doing  God's  will.  This  first  ministry  of  Knox 
was  powerful,  but  brief.  Rough  saw  how  the  matter 
must  end,  and  retired  to  England ;  but  Knox  held  on  till 
the  garrison  at  St.  Andrews  were  defeated  by  French  aid 
and  made  captives,  in  1547. 

The  terms  of  surrender  were  violated  by  the  victors, 
and  Knox  and  others  were  made  prisoners  in  the  French 
galleys.  In  1549  he  was  released  and  came  to  England, 
where,  as  we  have  seen,  he  spent  five  years.  After  the 
accession  of  Mary  he  remained  in  England  as  long  as  he 
could,  and  longer  than  was  prudent,  but  finally,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1554,  fled  to  the  Continent. 

During  the  five  years  of  his  sojourn  abroad,  interrupted 
by  a  long  and  fruitful  visit  to  Scotland,  Knox  was  vari- 
ously busy.  Part  of  the  time  he  was  at  Geneva,  where 
he  formed  a  fast  friendship  with  Calvin.  Here  he  studied 
with  great  diligence,  and,  though  nearly  fifty  years  old, 
took  up  the  study  of  Hebrew  to  improve  his  knowledge  of 
Scripture.  The  congregation  of  English  exiles  called 
him  to  Frankfort  as  their  minister,  and  he  accepted  and 
faithfully  served  them  till,  in  their  dissensions  over  the 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         51$ 

liturgy,  the  party  favoring  the  Anglican  ritual  got  the  ma- 
jority and  forced  Knox  out,  and  he  went  back  to  Geneva. 
Meantime  he  got  news  from  Scotland  that  the  queen- 
regent  (Mary  of  Guise,  mother  of  Mary  Stuart)  was 
disposed  for  the  moment  to  be  lenient  towards  the  Protes- 
tants. This  favorable  turn  of  affairs  and  other  circum- 
stances decided  Knox  to  make  a  visit  to  Scotland  and  see 
what  could  be  done  for  the  cause.  Leaving  Geneva  in 
August,  1555,  Knox  came  first  to  Berwick  and  spent  some 
time  with  his  wife  and  her  good  mother,  and  then  se- 
cretly proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  intending  to  return  soon 
to  Berwick.  But  he  found  much  to  do  in  Scotland.  At 
Edinburgh  and  other  places  he  found  the  friends  of  re- 
form eager  to  learn  from  him,  and  in  private  houses  he 
preached  and  taught  diligently,  confirming  and  building 
up  the  Protestants  and  winning  not  a  few  converts. 

After  nearly  a  year  of  this  labor  he  received  a  call 
from  the  English  congregation  at  Geneva  to  become  their 
pastor,  and  thought  it  best,  on  the  whole,  to  accede  to 
their  request.  So  he  returned  to  that  city  with  his  family 
and  had  a  quiet  and  helpful  pastorate  there  for  several 
years.  But  his  heart  was  in  Scotland,  and  he  joyfully 
listened  to  proposals  from  some  of  the  leaders  there  to 
return  and  carry  out  the  work  of  reform.  The  good  re- 
sults of  Knox's  visit  had  been  shown,  and  it  was  felt  that 
he  was  the  man  to  carry  on  the  work.  He  did  not  need 
any  urging,  and  so,  after  some  disappointments  and  de- 
lays, he  left  Geneva  to  take  up  his  mighty  labors,  in  the 
evening  of  his  days,  in  Scotland,  and  landed  at  Leith  in 
May,  1559.  With  this  date  the  last  and  greatest  stage 
of  Knox's  career  as  a  reformer  begins.  On  arriving  in 
Scotland  he  found  that  circumstances  had  altered  the 
queen-regent's  policy,  and  instead  of  tolerating  the  re- 
formers she  was  now  joining  hands  with  Archbishop 
Hamilton  to  suppress  them.  These  measures  of  persecu- 
tion awakened  sympathy  for  the  reformers,  but  meantime 
the  Protestant  cause  was  somewhat  hurt  by  the  indiscre- 
tion of  a  crowd  at  Perth,  who,  after  a  sermon  from  Knox, 
provoked  by  the  attempt  of  a  priest  to  celebrate  mass  in 
the  church  after  the  reformed  services  were  concluded, 
rushed  upon  the  church,  destroyed  the  altar  and  images, 
and,  proceeding  further,  when  once  aroused,  sacked  the 
monasteries  in  the  town. 


516  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

These  events  led  to  a  state  of  civil  warfare.  The  gov- 
ernment sent  troops  to  Perth,  the  Protestants  gathered 
forces  to  defend  themselves,  and  thus  the  lines  were 
sharply  drawn.  For  Romanism  in  Scotland  it  was  the 
beginning  of  the  end ;  but  for  Protestantism  there  was  a 
long  and  often  apparently  doubtful  conflict  before  the 
final  victory.  Knox's  share  in  that  struggle  and  victory 
was  very  great,  but,  of  course,  he  was  not  alone.  The 
preachers  of  less  prominence,  who  had  toiled  during  his 
absence  and  helped  to  maintain  the  cause,  stood  by  him 
in  his  gladly  welcomed  leadership,  and  their  ranks  were 
continually  strengthened  by  accessions  from  those  who 
had  been  less  decided,  but  now  came  out  clearly  for  the 
new  order.  About  this  time  the  general  body  of  Prot- 
estants had  come  to  be  known  as  "  The  Congregation," 
and  those  nobles  who,  in  accordance  with  the  Scottish 
feudal  habits,  took  the  direction  of  affairs  for  the  general 
body,  were  called  "  Lords  of  the  Congregation."  Thus,  in 
Scotland,  as  elsewhere,  but  in  consonance  with  the  pe- 
culiar institutions  of  the  country,  the  secular  rulers  had 
large  share  in  shaping  the  course  of  the  Reformation. 

Not  very  long  after  the  affair  at  Perth  the  Lords  of 
the  Congregation  invited  Knox  to  preach  on  a  certain 
day  at  St.  Andrews,  with  a  view  of  instituting  reforms 
there.  Knox  was  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  revisiting 
the  scene  of  his  early  ministry  and  of  former  defeat  and 
captivity,  and  of  thus  fulfilling  the  prediction  he  had 
made  while  a  prisoner  in  the  galleys,  that  he  would  one 
day  preach  at  St.  Andrews  again.  But  the  archbishop 
naturally  resented  the  intrusion,  and  threatened  to  send 
a  force  and  have  Knox  shot  if  he  entered  the  pulpit.  As 
the  Lords  had  only  a  few  men  on  the  ground,  the  leaders 
hesitated,  and  advised  Knox  to  give  up  the  attempt  for 
the  present.  But  Knox's  blood  was  up,  and  he  insisted 
on  filling  the  appointment,  among  other  things  saying : * 
"  As  for  fear  of  danger  that  may  come  to  me,  let  no  man 
be  solicitous,  for  my  life  is  in  the  custody  of  him  whose 
glory  I  seek.  I  desire  the  hand  nor  weapon  of  no  man  to 
defend  me.  I  only  crave  audience,  which,  if  it  be  denied 
me  at  this  time,  I  must  seek  where  I  may  have  it."  He 
was  allowed  to  have  his  way,  and  on  the  next  day 
1  McCrie,  p.  131. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         517 

preached  without  hindrance  to  a  great  congregation,  the 
archbishop  being  afraid  to  execute  his  threat.  He 
preached  powerfully  on  our  Lord's  driving  out  the  traders 
from  the  Temple,  making  the  obvious  application  to  the 
need  of  reforming  Christian  worship  there  and  then.  Sev- 
eral other  sermons  followed,  and  in  consequence,  not  by  a 
mob,  but  by  orderly  authority  of  the  rulers  of  the  town, 
the  Catholic  worship  was  abolished,  the  images  and  pic- 
tures removed  from  the  church,  and  the  monasteries  de- 
stroyed. This  was  in  June,  1559,  and  the  example  set  by 
St.  Andrews  was  followed  by  a  number  of  other  towns. 

In  July  the  people  of  Edinburgh,  in  a  public  assembly, 
called  Knox  to  be  their  minister,  and  he  accepted,  and 
began  his  work  at  St  Giles  church.  But  the  regent's 
forces  captured  the  city  from  the  Lords  of  the  Congrega- 
tion, and,  though  Knox  desired  to  remain,  he  was  this 
time  persuaded  to  prudence,  left  the  congregation  (pro- 
tected by  treaty)  in  the  hands  of  a  less  obnoxious  man, 
and  retired.  He  now  went  on  an  arduous  and  highly 
successful  preaching  tour,  visiting  in  two  months  many 
of  the  most  important  places  in  the  kingdom.  He  then 
settled  for  a  time  at  St.  Andrews,  till  circumstances 
should  admit  of  his  resuming  his  position  at  Edinburgh. 
During  the  interval  he  was  of  course  active  in  the  events 
which  marked  the  progress  of  affairs  in  church  and  state 
in  Scotland.  He  preached  much,  wrote  much,  and  in 
many  ways  encouraged  and  animated  the  ever-strength- 
ening Protestant  cause.  The  alliance  with  England  and 
the  deposition  of  the  queen-regent  by  the  Lords  of  the 
Congregation  were  followed  by  the  death  of  the  regent. 
A  parliament  was  called  to  settle  the  civil  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs  of  the  distracted  nation.  It  met  in  Edinburgh 
in  the  summer  of  1560,  abolished  the  Catholic  religion, 
and  adopted  a  reformed  confession  of  faith  drawn  up 
by  Knox  and  other  ministers. 

In  April,  1560,  Knox  had  come  back  to  Edinburgh  as 
chief  pastor,  and  for  the  remaining  twelve  years  of  his 
life  that  city  is  the  principal  scene  of  his  labors.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  preaching  and  administration  of  church  af- 
fairs, and  complicated,  of  course,  with  both,  the  main 
point  of  interest  in  his  later  career  is  his  conflict  with 
Queen  Mary  Stuart  in  her  effort  to  reinstate  the  Catholic 


518  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

religion.  The  romantic  history  of  that  misguided  and 
unhappy  lady  lies  apart  from  our  narrative,  but  it  is 
necessary  to  recall  that  the  early  death  of  her  father, 
James  V.,  had  left  her  an  infant  queen,  that  her  kingdom 
had  been  under  the  regency  of  Arran,  and  then  of  her 
mother,  while  she  was  a  minor,  absent  in  France,  and  mar- 
ried, while  yet  a  girl,  to  the  heir-apparent,  afterwards 
for  a  very  brief  reign  Francis  II.  After  the  death  of  her 
mother  and  then  of  her  husband,  the  fair  but  unsuitably 
trained  queen  was  invited  by  the  Scottish  nobles  to  come 
and  take  her  kingdom.  She  arrived  in  Scotland  in  August 
1561,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  troubles  of  ber  un- 
fortunate reign  began.  Though  the  Protestants  were  in 
power  and  had  invited  her  return,  Mary  soon  showed 
her  fixed  purpose  to  do  all  that  she  could  to  restore  the 
old  worship.  Her  mistake  was  natural,  considering  both 
her  faults  and  her  training,  but  it  brought  no  end  of 
trouble  both  on  herself  and  her  subjects.  One  of  her  first 
acts  was  to  order  a  solemn  mass  to  be  said  in  Holyrood 
chapel  in  honor  of  her  return.  The  leaders  prevented  the 
people  from  making  a  riot,  and  Knox  himself  counselled 
patience,  but  showed  his  feeling  on  the  subject  by  saying 
at  the  end  of  his  sermon  that  Sunday : *  "  That  one  mass 
was  more  fearful  unto  him  than  if  ten  thousand  armed 
enemies  were  landed  in  any  part  of  the  realm  of  purpose 
to  suppress  the  whole  religion."  Extravagant  as  this 
language  seems,  it  shows  that  Knox  was  alive  to  the 
dangers  which  threatened  the  Protestant  cause  from  the 
side  of  the  queen,  and  events  soon  showed  how  just  were 
his  fears.  But  Knox  was  firm,  unyielding,  even  severe, 
and  in  his  sermons  denounced  the  papacy  and  papal  prac- 
tices with  no  less  vigor  than  formerly.  McCrie  gives  a 
vivid  presentation  of  the  reformer's  several  famous  inter- 
views with  the  queen  during  these  years.  She  tried  the 
effect  of  argument,  of  flattery,  of  tears,  of  imperious 
anger,  all  in  vain.  If  the  bold  preacher  was  too  harsh 
and  unfeeling,  he  was  always  faithful  to  his  convictions, 
and  if  plain  almost  to  rudeness,  he  was  at  least  not  dis- 
respectful. He  ever  maintained  his  right  to  speak  his 
conscience  in  his  pulpit.  Once  Knox  took  occasion  in  a 
sermon  seriously  to  object  to  the  queen's  marriage  to  any 

1  McCrie,  p.  175. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         519 

papist.  Mary  was  deeply  offended,  called  the  preacher  to 
an  interview,  and  in  the  course  of  it  burst  into  passionate 
tears,  and  vowed  she  would  be  revenged.  But  Knox 
said  l  that  "  her  grace  and  he  had  at  different  times  been 
engaged  in  controversy,  and  he  had  never  before  per- 
ceived her  offended  with  him.  When  it  should  please  God 
to  deliver  her  from  the  bondage  of  error  in  which  she 
had  been  trained  np,  through  want  of  instruction  in  the 
truth,  he  trusted  that  her  majesty  would  not  find  the 
liberty  of  his  tongue  offensive.  Out  of  the  pulpit,  he 
believed  few  had  occasion  to  complain  of  him ;  but  there 
he  was  not  his  own  master,  but  was  bound  to  obey  Him 
who  commanded  him  to  speak  plainly,  and  to  flatter  no 
flesh  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  Strange  contrast  be- 
tween these  two  so  brought  into  contact,  with  unutterable 
disharmony  of  character  and  of  principles — both  inflexible 
in  their  several  ways — the  queen  lovely  even  in  her  faults 
and  weaknesses,  the  reformer  unlovely  in  his  virtues 
and  strength.  The  crowning  effort  of  Mary  was  to  se- 
cure Knox's  condemnation  on  a  charge  of  treason,  be- 
cause of  certain  expressions  in  a  letter  he  had  written  in 
defence  of  some  of  his  Protestant  brethren,  who  had  per- 
haps acted  imprudently  in  opposing  the  Catholic  worship 
at  Holyrood  during  the  queen's  absence.  He  was  tried 
before  the  Lords  in  her  presence,  she  herself  taking  the 
part  of  accuser  in  a  lively  way;  but  the  Lords,  to  their 
credit,  be  it  said,  were  not  to  be  browbeaten  nor  cajoled, 
and  Knox's  firm  and  candid  defence  secured  his  acquittal. 
This  was  in  1563. 

The  queen's  marriage  with  Darnley  was  in  nowise 
pleasing  to  Knox,  and  the  royal  pair  found  means  to  annoy 
the  free-spoken  preacher.  The  murder  of  Darnley  and 
the  queen's  flight  and  indecent  marriage  to  Bothwell  ex- 
cited Knox's  horror.  He,  of  course,  approved  of  her 
deposition,  and  preached  the  sermon  at  Stirling  on  the 
occasion  of  the  crowning  of  her  infant  son  as  James  VI. 
Knox  greatly  rejoiced  in  the  appointment  of  Murray  to 
the  regency,  and  was  filled  with  satisfaction  at  the  wise 
administration  of  that  able  and  incorruptible  patriot.  The 
assassination  of  Murray  filled  him  with  grief,  and  when 
the  queen's  party  took  possession  of  Edinburgh  he  was 
1  McCrie,  p.  206  f. 


520  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

forced  again  to  retire  for  a  while  to  St.  Andrews.  Soon, 
however,  the  civil  strife  was  abated,  and  he  was  once 
more  allowed  to  return,  and  this  time  to  end  his  days, 
among  his  beloved  flock.  His  health  rapidly  declined,  and 
in  1572,  just  as  the  elevation  of  Morton  to  the  regency 
promised  better  days,  the  old  hero  reached  the  end  of  his 
journey.  For  some  time  he  had  been  longing  to  depart, 
and  his  last  days  were  filled  with  peace  and  serenity  in 
view  of  his  speedy  release.  He  died  November  24,  1572. 
As  friends  stood  about  his  grave  the  newly  elected  regent, 
the  Earl  of  Morton,  expressed  the  thought  of  the  time 
and  the  judgment  of  posterity  in  the  brief  but  merited 
eulogy :  "  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the  face  of 
man." 

The  character  of  Knox  was  an  eminently  vigorous  one. 
The  strong  individuality  of  the  man  and  his  real  great- 
ness lie  on  the  surface.  He  could  and  did  receive  in- 
fluential impressions  from  others,  as  from  Wishart  and 
Rough,  in  his  early  years,  and  from  Calvin  during  his  so- 
journ in  Europe,  but  he  was  ever  his  own  man.  If,  as 
McCrie  concedes,1  he  falls  below  the  three  great  continen- 
tal reformers,  he  is  at  least  to  be  placed  next  below  them. 
Inferior  to  them  all  as  theologian  and  scholar,  he  also 
lacked  the  geniality  and  popular  power  of  Luther  and 
Zwingli,  and  did  not  approach  Calvin  in  constructive 
genius  nor  in  fine  balance  of  judgment.  In  his  austerity 
of  morals  and  censure  of  evil  he  was  more  like  Calvin, 
with  whom  in  views  of  truth  and  duty  he  most  nearly 
agreed.  Knox's  faults  were  those  of  a  strong  and  vehe- 
ment nature.  He  was  severe  in  his  judgments,  fearless 
and  tactless  in  expressing  his  opinions,  and  often  un- 
necessarily sharp  and  extreme  in  his  language.  But  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  indulged  in  coarseness  such  as 
marred  the  language  of  Luther  and  Zwingli;  and,  not- 
withstanding his  severity,  there  seems  to  have  been  more 
exercise,  as  well  as  expression  of  tenderness,  than  with 
Calvin.  He  made  and  kept  warm  attachments,  and  in  his 
personal  and  domestic  relations  gave  and  received  affec- 
tion. His  moral  fibre  was  of  the  toughest  sort,  and  yet 
once,  at  least,  in  the  negotiations  with  the  English  court, 
he  counselled  a  crooked  policy;  and  while  he  did  not 

1  P.  290  f. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         $21 

advise  he  did  in  a  measure  defend  the  murders  of  Cardi- 
nal Beaton  and  of  David  Rizzio.  In  his  personal  life  he 
was  pure  from  taint  and  absolutely  free  from  corruption. 
Various  slanders  assailed  him  by  the  malice  of  his  foes, 
but  they  fell  fruitless  to  the  ground.  His  one  absorbing 
aim  in  life  was  to  establish  the  Reformation  in  Scotland, 
and  to  this  purpose  he  brought  a  disinterestedness,  a 
courage,  a  hopefulness,  a  diligence  and  a  faith  in  God 
and  truth  which  keep  his  name  safe  amid  the  truly  great 
of  history. 

Little  can  be  said  as  to  the  preaching  of  Knox  beyond 
what  has  already  been  mentioned  or  suggested  in  the  ac- 
count of  his  life  and  character.  The  reason  is  apparent  in 
the  following  statement  of  McCrie1 :  "  Of  the  many  ser- 
mons preached  by  him  during  his  ministry  he  published 
but  one,  which  was  extorted  from  him  by  peculiar  circum- 
stances. It  affords  a  very  favorable  specimen  of  his 
talents,  and  shows  that  if  he  had  applied  himself  to  writ- 
ing he  was  qualified  for  excelling  in  that  department.  He 
had  a  ready  command  of  language,  and  expressed  him- 
self with  great  perspicuity,  animation  and  force."  The 
occasion  referred  to  by  McCrie  was  this :  Soon  after  his 
marriage  to  the  queen,  Darnley,  for  appearances'  sake, 
went  to  hear  Knox  preach,  and  took  violent  exceptions  to 
certain  allusions  in  the  sermon.  On  account  of  it  Knox 
was  inhibited  from  preaching  for  a  while,  and,  it  seems, 
at  the  request  of  the  privy  council,  or  to  vindicate  himself, 
wrote  out  as  nearly  as  he  could  the  sermon  that  he  had 
preached.2  One  other  sermon  is  mentioned  in  the  list  of 
his  writings,  and  there  are  some  expositions  of  various 
Scriptures  and  devotional  or  hortatory  tracts,  which  show 
that  the  common  report  of  his  power  in  unfolding  and 
applying  Scripture  is  justified.  The  accounts  of  his  elo- 
quence and  the  effects  of  his  work  in  the  pulpit  are  his 
title  to  rank  among  the  great  preachers.  His  power  over 
men  was  wonderful.  Small  of  stature  and  frail  in  body, 
like  Calvin,  he  was  far  more  vehement  and  excitable  than 
the  reserved  Frenchman.  His  eye  gleamed  and  his  frame 
worked  with  the  inward  power  of  his  convictions,  and  his 
mastery  of  his  audience  was  that  of  the  born  speaker. 
The  first  sermon  at  St.  Andrews,  when  he  attacked  the 
1  P.  298.  "  Fish,  Masterpieces,  etc.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  207  ff. 


522  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

papacy,  showed  his  coming  power,  and  the  far  later  one 
in  the  same  place,  when  he  defied  Archbishop  Hamilton's 
threats  and  put  aside  the  warnings  of  his  friends  to  urge 
the  immediate  reformation  of  worship,  was  a  triumph  of 
brave  and  powerful  preaching. 

6.    CONTEMPORARIES  OF  KNOX 

We  must  not  allow  the  preeminence  of  Knox  to  blind 
us  to  the  fact  that  in  his  time  there  were  a  number  of 
other  faithful  and  able  preachers  of  the  Reformation  in 
Scotland.  One  of  his  own  noblest  traits  of  character  was 
the  cordial  recognition  which  he  gave  to  the  worth  and 
services  of  his  brethren;  and  in  their  relations  to  each 
other  there  was  nothing  arrogant  on  his  part  nor  subser- 
vient on  theirs.  It  will  suffice,  however,  to  mention 
briefly  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  of  these  men,  for 
none  of  them  attained  to  any  distinguished  rank  as 
preachers,  nor  do  their  sermons  remain  to  exhibit  their 
individual  characteristics.1 

One  of  the  humble  and  faithful  ones  who  labored  amid 
discouragement  and  peril  in  Scotland  during  Knox's  exile 
was  William  Harlow.  He  was  not  a  man  of  much  educa- 
tion, but  was  well  grounded  in  the  Scriptures.  He  had 
been  a  tailor  at  Edinburgh,  but,  becoming  a  Protestant, 
went  to  England  in  the  time  of  Edward  VI.,  and  was  em- 
ployed there  as  a  preacher  in  some  humble  capacity.  He 
afterwards  returned  to  Scotland  and  preached  "  with 
great  fervor  and  diligence  "  in  different  places,  to  the  end 
of  his  life. 

The  man  who  stood  next  to  Knox  in  pulpit  power  and 
extent  of  influence  was  John  Willock  (d.  1585),  a  native 
of  Ayrshire.  He  pursued  his  studies  at  Glasgow  Uni- 
versity, and  was  for  some  time  a  monk  at  Ayr,  but  early 
became  reformer  and  forsook  the  monastery.  He,  like 
Harlow,  went  to  England,  but  was  there  in  Henry  VIII. 's 
reign,  and  suffered  persecution  when  the  Six  Articles 
were  being  enforced.  Afterwards  he  was  appointed  a 
chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  under  Edward,  but  left 
England  under  the  next  reign  and  practised  medicine 

1  Mention  in  McCrie's  Life  of  Knox,  and  articles  in  Diet.  Nat. 
Biog. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         523 

at  Emden,  in  Friesland.  Here  he  got  in  favor  with  the 
Duchess  of  Friesland,  and  was  by  her  sent  on  an  ostensi- 
bly commercial  and  political  mission  to  Scotland  in  1555. 
He  used  his  opportunity  to  encourage  and  spread  the  re- 
form movement.  Later  we  find  him  settled  as  preacher  at 
Ayr,  where  he  did  good  work,  and  made  such  strong 
friends  that,  though  tried  for  heresy  and  outlawed,  the 
sentence  against  him  could  not  be  executed.  He  joined 
Knox  on  his  arrival  at  Edinburgh,  and  he  it  was  who 
stayed  and  preached  there  while  the  city  was  in  possession 
of  the  queen-regent  and  Knox  had  to  retire  for  a  while. 
Willock  was  as  firm  as  Knox,  but  a  great  deal  more  tact- 
ful and  prudent,  and  his  services  at  that  crisis  were  par- 
ticularly valuable.  The  queen-regent  tried  to  have  the 
Catholic  worship  restored  at  St.  Giles'  church,  but  Wil- 
lock's  decided,  though  respectful,  resistance  triumphed. 
He  gave  his  opinion,  when  asked  by  the  nobles,  in  favor 
of  the  queen-regent's  deposition,  but,  nevertheless,  visited 
her  in  her  last  illness.  He  filled  various  pulpits  and  other 
positions  of  prominence  and  influence  in  Scotland,  but 
later,  for  some  reason,  went  to  England,  where  he  died 
as  rector  of  a  church  in  Leicestejshire,  in  1585.  The 
friendship  between  him  and  Knox  was  close  and  cordial, 
and  his  services  to  the  Reformation  were  important  and 
lasting.  McCrie  says  of  him,  "  Willock  was  not  inferior 
to  Knox  in  learning,  and  though  he  did  not  equal  him  in 
eloquence  and  intrepidity,  surpassed  him  in  affability,  in 
moderation,  and  in  address;  qualities  which  enabled  him 
sometimes  to  maintain  his  station  and  to  accomplish  his 
purposes  when  his  colleague  could  not  act  with  safety  or 
with  success." 

Another  of  Knox's  very  close  friends  was  Christopher 
Goodman  (d.  1603),  who  was  born  and  educated  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  one  of  those  Frankfort  exiles  who  objected 
to  the  use  of  the  English  liturgy  there  and  retired  to  Ge- 
neva. He  and  Knox  were  joint  ministers  to  the  English 
church  at  Geneva,  and  after  Knox  came  back  to  Scotland 
he  earnestly  urged  his  beloved  and  faithful  colleague  to 
join  and  help  him  in  establishing  the  Reformation.  Good- 
man heeded  the  request,  and,  coming  to  Scotland  with 
Knox's  family,  he  rendered  valuable  help  to  the  cause. 
He  was  for  a  time  pastor  at  Ayr  and  also  at  St.  Andrews. 


524  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

He  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  preacher,  but,  like  his  greater 
friend  and  colleague,  he  had  a  sharp  tongue  and  a  vehe- 
ment spirit  that  often  hurt  more  than  they  helped.  After 
a  while  he  left  Scotland  and  returned  to  England,  where 
he  had  trouble  with  Elizabeth's  prelates  on  account  of  his 
nonconforming  views,  and  died,  a  very  old  man,  in  1603. 

The  youngest  of  this  group,  who  came  into  influence 
chiefly  after  Knox's  death,  is  James  Lawson  (d.  1584). 
He  claims  mention  for  two  things.  One  is  that  he  was 
the  first  man  to  teach  Hebrew  in  Scotland ;  having  been 
appointed  to  a  professorship  by  the  regent  Murray  at  St. 
Andrews.  The  other  is  that  from  this  post  he  was  ur- 
gently besought  by  Knox  to  come  to  his  help  and  relief  in 
the  pastorship  at  St.  Giles'  church,  in  Edinburgh,  when 
the  old  reformer  felt  that  his  days  were  few.  Knox's  last 
public  service  was  at  the  installation  of  Lawson  as  his 
colleague  and  successor  in  the  pastorate. 

Besides  those  who  have  been  mentioned  there  were 
others  also  who  preached  and  toiled  for  the  establishing 
and  confirming  of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland.  The 
value  of  their  labors  and  the  solidity  of  their  work  appear 
in  the  subsequent  history  of  Protestant  Scotland,  and  in 
the  power  and  influence  of  English-speaking  Presbyter- 
ianism  throughout  the  world.  Many  of  the  greatest  di- 
vines and  noblest  preachers  whose  lives  have  blessed 
mankind  have  traced  their  religious  lineage  from  Knox 
and  his  co-laborers  in  Scotland. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  PREACHING  AND  PREACHERS  IN  THE 
SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Reformation  introduced  and  estab- 
lished a  new  epoch  in  preaching,  it  has  seemed  best  to 
follow  that  tendency  among  the  reformers  themselves, 
and  show  how  in  the  lands  chiefly  affected  by  Protestant- 
ism there  flourished  numbers  of  notable  preachers.  But 
we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  preaching  within  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  during  this  epoch.  For  centuries  we 
followed  the  course  of  development  in  preaching  within 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          525 

that  body,  and  that  development  received  important  modi- 
fication from  forces  both  within  and  without  the  church 
itself  during  the  sixteenth  century.  Neither  the  Catholic 
church  as  a  whole,  nor  its  preaching  in  particular,  was 
the  same  after  the  Reformation  as  before  it,  nor  what 
they  would  have  been  without  that  great  movement.  It 
is  incumbent  upon  us,  therefore,  to  consider  carefully 
what  was  the  relation  of  the  Reformation  to  Catholic 
preaching ;  and  after  that  we  may  profitably  give  some  at- 
tention to  the  leading  Catholic  preachers  of  the  age. 

i.    THE  REFORMATION  AND  CATHOLIC  PREACHING 

It  is  fair  to  say  in  the  outset  that  Catholic  and  Protest- 
ant writers  are  not  likely  to  agree,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  do  not  agree,  as  to  the  reality,  the  extent  and  the 
character  of  the  influence  which  the  Reformation  had 
upon  Catholic  preaching.  Thus  Zanotto  1  depreciates  the 
effect  of  the  Reformation  by  emphasizing  the  fact  that 
there  was  until  the  Council  of  Trent  no  marked  improve- 
ment in  Catholic  preaching,  but,  rather,  a  fall  after  Sav- 
onarola, giving  as  two  causes  for  this  decline  the  polemi- 
cal spirit  engendered  by  the  dispute  with  Protestantism, 
and  the  remnant  of  merely  paganizing  influences  from  the 
Renaissance.  This  would  imply  that  all  the  improvement 
in  the  Catholic  preaching  in  the  sixteenth  century  came 
much  later  than  the  Protestant  outbreak,  and  was  due  to 
the  reformatory  measures  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Now 
there  is  truth  in  all  this;  but  it  is  not  the  whole  truth. 
Naturally  the  Protestant  preaching  itself  showed  first  the 
heightened  tone  of  the  reformatory  impulse,  and  the 
Council  of  Trent  did  work  some  reforms.  But  what 
made  that  body  pass  laws  for  the  improvement  of  preach- 
ing, as  well  as  other  measures  of  reform?  It  is  idle  to 
intimate  that  the  Reformation  did  not  influence  it.  An- 
other Catholic  writer  on  the  history  of  preaching,  the 
Abbe  Boucher,2  goes  even  further  and  says,  "  The  church 
itself,  by  its  councils,  by  its  most  illustrious  pontiffs  and 
its  most  holy  doctors,  recalled  the  preachers  to  hard 
studies,  to  the  gravity  of  the  priesthood,  to  the  simplicity 

lStoria  della  Predicasione,  p.  147  e  seg. 

2  L' 'Eloquence  de  la  Chaire,  ou  Histoire  litteraire  de  la  Prtdi- 
cation,  p.  271. 


526  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

of  Christian  speech.  But  this  reform  could  only  be  ac- 
complished slowly,  and  took  a  century  to  show  itself.  It 
was  during  the  sixteenth  century  that  Protestantism  came 
and  robbed  the  church  of  a  large  part  of  Europe.  It  dried 
up  at  the  same  time  the  fountain  of  pulpit  eloquence  in 
those  unhappy  lands.  There  is  talking  in  the  pulpit,  but 
no  more  preaching."  The  absurd  and  extreme  one-sided- 
ness  and  inaccuracy  of  this  representation  are  apparent, 
but  it  is  an  illustration  of  how  Catholics  wish  to  ignore 
any  possible  help  which  the  Reformation  may  have  ren- 
dered to  preaching,  either  out  of  or  within  the  Cath- 
olic church.  On  the  other  hand,  Protestant  writers — 
especially  the  Germans  * — may  be  inclined  to  depreciate 
any  improvement  in  Catholic  preaching,  or,  if  they  see  it, 
to  assign  the  whole  of  it  to  the  influence  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ;  forgetting  that  the  Reformation  itself  was  primarily 
a  Catholic  movement,  and  that  not  all  who  desired  to  pro- 
mote reforms  left  the  church,  so  that  there  was  pro- 
gressive movement  within  as  well  as  helpful  stimulus 
from  without.  On  one  point,  however,  both  sides  prac- 
tically agree,  and  that  is  that  the  improved  tone  of  Catho- 
lic preaching — whatever  its  cause — was  not  very  prompt 
in  displaying  itself  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  imme- 
diate and  direct  influence  of  Protestantism  on  Catholic 
preaching  was,  for  reasons  already  hinted  and  more 
clearly  to  be  shown,  not  a  distinct  improvement;  for  the 
loss  of  so  many  of  the  best  preachers,  who  went  out  from 
the  church,  and  the  sharpening  of  the  polemic  spirit,  were 
injurious  to  the  Catholic  pulpit.  Yet  there  were  some  ele- 
ments of  improvement  at  work,  and  these  came  to  fuller 
power  later  in  the  century,  and  produced  still  better 
fruit  in  the  next. 

We  must  recall  here  something  of  the  state  of  Catholic 
preaching  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Ro- 
manist writers  recognize  and  concede  many  of  the  faults 

1  Thus  Christlieb  says  of  the  Catholic  preaching  of  the  sixteenth 
century  that  it  "  shows  itself  wholly  governed  by  polemic  against 
the  reformatory  doctrines.  In  the  everywhere  threatened  revolt 
from  Rome  there  is  defence  of  that  which  exists,  and  only  too 
often  the  extirpation  of  heresy  is  its  ground-theme.  The  conflict 
with  Protestantism,  strong  in  preaching  (most  commonly  only 
that!),  drives  also  the  Catholic  Church  to  more  diligence  in  the 
homiletical  sphere."  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  in  Herzog. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          527 

which  Protestants  charge  against  the  Catholic  preaching 
of  the  time.  It  had  suffered  from  the  arid  speculation  of 
scholasticism,  from  the  puerile  exaggerations  of  the  alle- 
gorical method  of  interpreting  Scripture,  from  the  cool- 
ing influence  of  the  Renaissance,  and  from  the  general 
deterioration  in  clerical  character  and  pulpit  power.  If 
the  reformers  magnified  these  faults  and  ignored  the  bet- 
ter elements  which  remained  in  Romanist  preaching,  and 
if  the  Catholics  only  partially  realized  and  confessed  the 
evil  and  sought  to  break  the  force  of  criticism  by  charg- 
ing similar  and  worse  defects  upon  the  Protestant  pulpit, 
why,  that  is  only  the  way  of  debate  when  there  are  wide 
differences  and  strong  feelings  between  parties. 

We  have  seen  how  the  reformers  gradually  withdrew 
from  the  old  church;  and  they  carried  their  preaching 
with  them.  But  there  were  left  behind  in  the  Catholic 
church  reformers  of  at  least  three  different  varieties: 
(i)  There  were  scholars  both  of  the  cool,  satirical  sort, 
like  Erasmus,  and  of  the  devout  and  earnest  sort,  like  Le 
Fevre.  (2)  There  were  the  pious  and  mystical,  some 
who  came  very  near  being  reformers,  like  Staupitz,  and 
others,  who  were  unshaken  in  their  allegiance  to  Rome, 
like  Luiz  of  Granada.  (3)  There  were  the  thorough- 
going Romanists,  who  combined  with  a  real  desire  for  the 
reform  of  the  church,  the  equally  strong  one  of  putting 
down  or  refuting  the  Protestant  heresy.  These,  too,  had 
their  different  representatives,  such  as'Caraffa,  the  pre- 
late, and  Peter  Canisius,  the  Jesuit  and  preacher.  Now 
the  forces  for  reform,  represented  by  such  men  as  these 
and  their  followers,  were  by  no  means  inactive.  In  Italy 
especially  there  was  a  strong  movement  for  improved  con- 
ditions in  preaching.  The  order  of  Theatines,  founded 
by  Gaetano,  Caraffa  and  others,  had  preaching  in  mind 
as  well  as  other  reforms ;  and  the  Capuchin  monks  of  the 
order  of  St.  Francis  were  started  to  revive  both  the 
stricter  asceticism  and  the  preaching  traditions  of  the 
earlier  history  of  the  order.  The  eminent  prelate  and 
later  saint,  Carlo  Borromeo  of  Milan,  earnestly  sought, 
by  precept  and  example,  to  bring  about  a  better  type  of 
preaching.  From  Spain  the  order  of  Jesuits  came  forth 
to  labor  for  the  ascendancy  of  Rome  in  all  departments, 
and  not  the  least  in  preaching ;  and  in  their  ranks  earlier 


528  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

and  later  were  found  some  of  the  most  powerful  Catholic 
preachers.  Treatises  on  preaching  and  helps  for  preach- 
ers appeared.  Valerio,  in  Italy,  and  Luiz  of  Granada,  in 
Spain,  put  forth  works  of  considerable  merit  on  the  art 
of  preaching,  and  some  collections  of  sermons  were  made 
for  the  benefit  of  the  needy  in  that  direction.  Among 
these  was  one  from  the  famous  John  Eck,  who  disputed 
with  Carlstadt  and  Luther  at  Leipzig.  Finally,  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and,  among  other 
reformatory  measures,  passed  canons  which  had  the  im- 
provement of  preaching  directly  in  view.  One  of  these  x 
made  it  the  duty  of  bishops  and  pastors  to  see  that  there 
should  be  preaching  in  the  churches  at  least  on  Sundays, 
feast  days  and  fast  days;  and  during  Advent  and  Lent 
every  day. 

The  facts  mentioned  show  that  inside  the  Catholic 
church  there  was  during  the  Reformation  epoch  a  decided 
movement  for  the  reform  of  preaching;  but  there  were 
also  stimulative  influences  from  without,  which,  if  they 
did  not  produce,  at  least  powerfully  cooperated  with, 
these  inner  tendencies.  While  the  Romanist  pulpit  did 
not  so  much  as  the  Protestant  preaching  respond  to  those 
general  external  influences  which  have  been  pointed  out 
before,  it  was  by  no  means  unmoved  by  them.  These,  it 
will  be  recalled,  were  the  large,  progressive  spirit  of  the 
new  age,  the  impulse  from  the  revival  in  arts  and  letters, 
the  effect  of  criticism  upon  abuses,  and  the  like.  Tradi- 
tional and  conservative  as  it  was  in  its  mediaevalism,  the 
Romanist  pulpit  could  not  turn  a  wholly  deaf  ear  to  the 
world's  demand  for  better  things. 

More  particularly,  however,  the  stimulative  influence 
of  the  Protestant  revolt  itself  is  to  be  considered.  The 
reformers,  as  we  know,  did  not  content  themselves  with 
merely  criticising  or  bewailing  the  defects  and  decay  of 
the  preaching  of  the  age.  Their  polemic  and  their  ex- 
ample alike  served  to  emphasize  the  evil  conditions  which 
marred  the  Catholic  pulpit.  Men  do  not  like  to  have  their 
faults  pointed  out  by  their  opponents,  but  they  sometimes 
profit  by  the  unfriendly  criticism,  notwithstanding  their 
resentment  and  denials.  Traces  of  this  influence  appear 

1S?ss.  XXIV.,  de  Ref.,  cap.  4;  referred  to  by  Rothe,  Gesch.  der. 
Pred.,  S.  385. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         529 

in  many  of  the  Catholic  sermons  of  the  time.  John  Wild, 
as  we  shall  see,  confessed  to  having  received  help  from 
the  "  innovators ;  "  and  in  others,  where  not  confessed,  the 
service  rendered  is  at  least  apparent.  Besides  this  we 
must  consider  the  effect  of  rivalry.  It  was  not  in  human 
nature  for  the  Catholic  preachers  to  see  the  Protestants 
winning  such  victories  by  preaching  and  not  be  moved  to 
greater  and  better  exertions  on  their  own  side.  Natu- 
rally this  effect  is  more  distinctly  apparent  in  Germany, 
where  the  conflict  was  dubious,  than  in  those  lands  where 
one  or  the  other  party  had  the  advantage.  And,  finally, 
the  effect  of  the  Catholic  polemic  against  Protestantism 
must  also  be  considered.  Not  only  in  receiving  attack 
and  in  emulation  of  their  rivals,  but  in  their  own  sharp 
and  determined  attack  upon  the  Protestant  position,  did 
the  Catholics  find  stimulus  towards  the  exercise  and 
strengthening,  at  least  in  one  direction,  of  their  preach- 
ing. The  injurious  effect  of  controversy  on  the  preach- 
ing of  both  parties  must  be  admitted,  so  far  as  the  re- 
ligious spirit  is  concerned,  but  both  frequency  and  vigor 
in  the  work  were  promoted  thereby. 

We  may  now  pertinently  ask,  Did  these  forces  for  im- 
provement really  accomplish  anything?  Do  we  find  as  a 
consequence  of  these  tendencies  and  influences  that  Cath- 
olic preaching  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  decidedly 
better  than  in  the  fifteenth?  The  answer  cannot  be  an 
emphatic  affirmative,  neither  can  it  be  a  negative.  There 
was  some  improvement,  but  not  as  much  as  might  have 
been  expected.  But  forces  were  set  in  motion  that  did 
alter  for  the  better  the  general  character  of  Catholic 
preaching,  though,  as  Catholics  themselves  show,  these 
improvements  were  not  fully  apparent  till  a  later  period. 

A  distinct  gain  was  made  in  the  regard  for  preaching. 
Perhaps  that  regard  has  never  become  so  high  as  it  was 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  yet  there  has  been  increased 
respect,  as  compared  with  the  neglect  of  the  two  following 
centuries.  And  it  is  likely  that  not  in  any  age  since  the 
Reformation — unless  a  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  be 
an  exception — has  the  pulpit  been  as  little  esteemed  among 
Catholics  as  it  was  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

A  very  notable  gain  has  been  in  the  improved  charac- 
ter of  the  Catholic  clergy  as  a  whole  since  the  Reforma- 


530  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

tion.  This  has  regard  to  both  morals  and  culture.  The 
proportion  of  unfit  men  in  the  ministry  was  appreciably 
reduced  by  the  reforms  of  the  sixteenth  century.  This 
statement  does  not  mean  that  there  were  only  bad  men 
before  or  only  good  men  since  the  Reformation  in  the 
Catholic  ministry;  but  it  does  mean  that  there  has  been 
a  great  improvement.  Ignorance  and  vice  have  not  been 
wholly  banished  from  among  either  Catholics  or  Protest- 
ants, but  some  things  which  were  tolerated  in  the  fifteenth 
century  have  been  under  the  ban  ever  since  that  time. 

Relatively  to  the  irreverent  and  often  absurd  misuse  of 
Scripture,  which  was  only  too  common  in  the  mediaeval 
times,  there  has  been  a  notable  improvement  in  Catholic 
preaching.  There  is  much  to  be  desired  in  the  post- 
reformation  sermons  in  this  regard,  but  we  do  not  find 
in  modern  Catholic  preaching  anything  like  as  much  of 
that  wild  allegorizing  and  unworthy  distortion  of  Scrip- 
ture as  existed  before  the  Reformation.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  sermons  of  John  Wild  and  of  Peter  Cani- 
sius,  both  of  whom  labored  in  Germany  in  near  conflict 
with  the  reformers,  especially  show  traces  of  a  better  in- 
terpretation and  application  of  Scripture,  and  also  of  a 
tendency  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  scripture  ex- 
position as  compared  with  other  modes  of  preaching. 
The  only  homiletical  remains  from  Canisius  are  a  series 
of  Notes  on  the  Gospels  and  Epistles — that  is  sketches  of 
homilies  on  the  lessons  appointed  for  the  sacred  days 
of  the  year;  and  among  the  far  more  voluminous  works 
of  Wild  both  expository  homilies  and  commentaries  oc- 
cupy a  large  place.  The  quality  of  the  exposition  in  both 
leaves  much  to  be  desired,  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  forced 
and  so  allegorical  as  in  former  times  was  the  fashion. 

While  the  Catholic  pulpit  has  never  reached  the  power 
over  the  people  that  it  had  in  the  central  Middle  Ages — 
particularly  the  thirteenth  century — it  at  least  recovered 
much  of  the  ground  that  it  lost  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
This  rise  in  popular  power  was  due  to  all  the  foregoing 
considerations,  and  was  particularly  enhanced  by  the  now 
confirmed  use  of  the  vernacular  languages  as  the  medium 
of  pulpit  address.  We  saw  how  this  tendency  was  grow- 
ing through  the  Middle  Ages ;  but  the  Latin  sermon  has 
become  a  thing  of  the  past  since  the  Reformation.  On 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          531 

some  academic  and  ecclesiastical  occasions,  when  the  au- 
dience made  it  tolerable,  the  sermon  was  given  in  Latin ; 
and  for  the  sake  of  securing  a  wider  circle  of  readers 
many  of  those  spoken  in  the  native  tongues  were  trans- 
lated and  published  in  Latin,  and  we  have  many  in  that 
form  only,  the  originals  having  perished.  But  the  ordi- 
nary use  of  Latin  in  preaching  had  ceased  before  the 
Reformation,  and  this  happy  change  received  emphatic 
endorsement  and  perpetuation  at  that  epoch. 

Although  some  changes  and  improvements  were 
effected  in  the  general  character  of  Catholic  preaching 
by  the  purifying  forces  of  the  Reformation,  yet  the  char- 
acteristics acquired  through  centuries  of  development  re- 
mained essentially  unchanged.  Among  these  of  course 
are  many  features  which  abide  in  all  preaching  and  are 
not  distinctively  Catholic;  but  Christian,  historic,  per- 
manent. These  are  not  here  under  consideration.  But 
if  we  speak  of  some  matters  distinctively  Catholic  we 
enter  at  once  the  realm  of  dispute,  for  these  will  seem  ex- 
cellencies to  the  Romanist  and  faults  to  the  Protestant. 

The  place  of  the  sermon  in  worship  remained  as  it  was. 
The  Reformation  did  not  rescue  it  from  its  subordination 
to  liturgy.  If  the  Reformed  churches  went  too  far  in 
making  the  sermon  supreme,  and  the  Anglican  church 
did  not  go  far  enough,  the  Catholic  church  allowed  it  to 
remain  relatively  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
mass  and  other  ceremonies.  The  priest  in  the  worship 
continued  to  be  rather  the  celebrant  of  mysteries  than 
the  preacher  of  truth.  Ritual  to  strike  the  senses  and 
the  sentiments,  rather  than  the  exposition  of  divine  truth 
to  enlighten  the  mind  and  mould  the  character,  'remained 
too  much  the  character  of  Catholic  worship.  Under  such 
conditions  there  was  an  inevitable  depreciation  and  weak- 
ening of  preaching. 

The  Reformation  mitigated  but  did  not  wholly  cure 
certain  faults  of  method  in  the  Catholic  preaching  of  the 
times.  The  scholastic  tendency  was  still  too  much  in 
evidence,  along  with  the  multiplied  and  pedantic  quota- 
tion from  the  Fathers  and  church  Doctors.  The  best 
preachers  of  the  age  are  not  wholly  free  from  this — 
as  Musso,  Villanova,  Canisius — although  they  do  show 
considerable  improvement.  But  in  the  hands  of  those 


532  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

who  were  not  so  much  affected  by  the  new  spirit  this  de- 
fect was  still  more  apparent. 

The  coarseness  and  irreverence  which  found  place  in 
many  of  the  mediaeval  Catholic  sermons  were  not  entirely 
banished  from  those  of  the  Reformation  period.  It  is 
not  denied  that  here  some  reformers  were  equally  guilty 
with  their  opponents,  but  that  fact  does  not  excuse  either 
party.  Still  it  must  be  gladly  recognized  that  in  this 
there  was  improvement  over  former  times,  though  not 
complete  amendment.  And  the  same  remark,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  may  be  made  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the 
Scripture  in  the  Catholic  sermons  of  the  age.  Many  of 
them  indicate  a  better  practice,  but  still  there  is  too 
much  of  the  allegorical  interpretation,  and  of  forced  ap- 
plication. Besides  this  the  use  of  extra-biblical  material 
continues.  The  Council  of  Trent  placed  the  Apocryphal 
books  on  a  footing  with  the  genuine  Scriptures,  and  they 
are  quoted  and  used  as  such.  Tradition  and  legend  still 
supply  sermon  material.  Tales  and  eulogies  of  saints  and 
martyrs  exceed  the  legitimate  uses  of  illustration.  The 
authority  of  the  Fathers  and  Doctors  is  too  highly 
esteemed  in  comparison  with  that  of  Scripture. 

But  the  most  serious  Protestant  criticism  upon  the 
Catholic  preaching  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  that  which 
lies  against  its  doctrinal  content.  It  was  this  that  forced 
the  split;  the  other  matters  could  have  been  mended  in- 
side the  church.  But  naturally  at  this  point  the  Catholic 
refuses  to  confess  judgment,  though  as  to  other  matters 
he  may  be  willing  to  admit  the  existence  of  some  faults. 
Those  great  fundamental  Christian  verities  upon  which 
Catholics  and  Protestants  agree  are  of  course  not  here 
in  question ;  and  it  is  not  denied  that  in  the  Romanist 
preaching  of  the  sixteenth  century,  controversial  as  it 
was,  much  essential  truth  upon  both  doctrine  and  morals 
was  proclaimed.  At  the  same  time  the  proclamation  and 
defence  of  those  unscriptural  accretions  and  perversions 
which  characterize  the  Roman  theology  are  the  prom- 
inent features  of  Catholic  preaching  at  the  period  we 
have  in  hand.  The  mass  and  transubstantiation ;  penance 
with  its  three  elements  of  contrition,  confession  and  sat- 
isfaction ;  good  works  and  merits,  and  the  nature  of  faith 
and  justification;  the  adoration  of  Mary  and  the  saints; 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,    AGE          533 

purgatory  and  prayers  for  the  dead;  all  these  were 
preached,  not  indeed  to  the  total  neglect,  but  yet  to  the 
great  obscuration  of  pure  gospel  truth. 

We  have  already  had  more  than  one  occasion  to  ob- 
serve how  large  a  place  controversy  had  in  the  preaching 
of  the  Reformation  period.  The  reason  for  this  is  suffi- 
ciently obvious,  and  its  effect  in  stimulating  the  preach- 
ing of  the  reformers  has  been  previously  noticed.  Its 
place  and  influence  in  Catholic  preaching  are  now  to  be 
further  considered.  As  a  general  truth  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  controversy  has  both  good  and  evil  effects 
in  preaching.  Its  good  is  seen  in  the  spur  to  diligence, 
the  clarifying  of  points  at  issue,  the  intellectual  quick- 
ening, the  strengthening  of  conviction  and  earnestness, 
which  are  its  usual  accompaniments.  Its  evil  appears  in 
the  angry  passions,  the  distortions  of  truth,  the  personal 
animosities,  the  intemperate  expressions,  which  only  too 
often  mar  its  own  legitimate  working.  Fairness  demands 
the  statement  that  both  the  good  and  evil  of  controversy 
appear  in  both  the  great  parties  to  the  religious  strife 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  preaching  of  both  re- 
formers and  Catholics  exhibits  the  corresponding  effects. 
Yet  it  is  also  fair  to  say  that  in  some  respects  the  advan- 
tage lay  with  the  Protestants,  and  their  preaching  shows 
on  the  whole  more  of  the  good  and  less  of  the  evil  of 
polemics  than  is  the  case  with  their  Romanist  adversaries. 
This  was  due  to  a  number  of  things,  a  few  of  which 
may  be  instanced :  The  reformers  were  the  attacking 
party  and  many  of  the  things  which  they  attacked  were 
notoriously  evil  and  had  to  be  so  admitted,  while  others 
which  were  defended  were  yet  placed  in  question  in  the 
minds  of  multitudes  of  thoughtful  and  devout  Chris- 
tians ;  they  were  the  ones  who  made  the  most  sacrifices 
for  conscience'  sake,  and  with  whom  accordingly  the 
weight  of  moral  power  lay ;  they  had  a  simpler  task,  for 
their  one  great  authority  was  the  Scripture,  complicated 
with  fewer  traditions  and  dissociated  from  many  his- 
toric abuses ;  they  made  preaching  their  main  instrument 
of  warfare  and  more  unreservedly  and  warmly  devoted 
themselves  to  it.  Such  considerations  as  these  serve  to 
explain  why  the  evil  effects  of  controversy,  though  un- 
happily bad  enough,  were  not  so  manifest  in  the  Protes- 


534  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

tant  as  in  the  Catholic  preaching  of  the  Reformation  age. 
But  even  if  the  comparison  be  not  admitted,  the  fact  that 
polemic  against  Protestantism  was  hurtfully  prominent 
in  that  preaching  cannot  be  denied.  Rothe  x  asserts  that 
it  was  the  principal  element,  and  Christlieb 2  has  the  same 
opinion.  These  Protestant  judgments  are  confirmed  by 
Catholic  writers  also,  though  they  naturally  take  a  very 
different  view  of  the  character  of  the  defence  made  by 
the  Romanists.3  Thus  Leroux  4  says :  "  The  Reformation 
met  in  its  way  vigorous  champions  to  combat  it;  the 
church  had  its  defenders.  The  preachers  took  pains  to 
warn  the  faithful  against  the  perils  to  their  faith,  and  to 
refute  the  new  belief  which  threatened  to  destroy  it;  in 
the  pulpit  especially  the  greatest  zeal  was  displayed."  The 
same  writer  contends  that  the  Catholic  preachers  were 
more  dignified  and  less  bitter  than  the  Protestants,  and 
far  less  rude  and  coarse.  Yet  he  admits  5  that  they  some- 
times descended  to  ridicule  and  satire.  He  instances  as 
an  especially  keen  and  effective  controversialist  the 
Franciscan  archbishop  of  Brixen,  John  Nas,  and  makes 
several  quotations  from  a  sermon  of  his  in  reply  to  a  cer- 
tain Miiller — which  may  be  a  fictitious  name,  as  there 
was  no  prominent  Protestant  preacher  of  that  name  at  the 
time.  As  Leroux  quotes  these  paragraphs  with  approval, 
we  may  transcribe  them  as  fair  specimens  of  Catholic  pul- 
pit polemic  against  Lutheranism.  Thus  Bishop  Nas :  "  All 
the  popes  opposed  the  heretics;  also  the  heretics  always 
treated  the  popes  as  anti-Christ.  That  is  true,  and  is  so 
to-day,  to  the  great  honor  of  the  pope;  for  the  heretics 
preach  a  false  Christ,  who  does  not  require  either  obedi- 
ence to  the  will  of  God,  nor  observance  of  the  divine  law,8 
and  who  does  not  prescribe  either  love  or  penitence,  con- 
tenting himself  simply  with  faith  without  works.  Now 
the  pope  anathematizes  and  condemns  this  Christ,  he  is 
his  enemy,  the  enemy  of  all  his  members  and  of  all  his 
sect.  So,  then,  the  pope  is  rightly  called  an  anti-Christ. 
He  is  the  enemy  of  all  the  false  Christs,  and  condemns 
them.  So  this  fool  Miiller  does  not  know  what  he  is  say- 

*S.  385.  2  Ante,  p.  526,  note. 

*  See  references  to  Zanotto  and  Boucher,  ante,  p.  526. 

*  Les  Pridicateurs  cSlebres  de  I'Allemagne,  pp.  211,  213. 
6  Op.  cit.,  p.  219  et  suiv.  *  Calvin,  for  instance ! 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         535 

ing,  he  vomits  hot  and  cold  without  knowing  it ;  there  is 
just  as  much  relation  in  the  analogy  which  he  pretends 
to  establish  as  there  is  between  the  fist  and  the  eye."  He 
speaks  of  Luther's  tract  on  the  Babylonian  Captivity  as 
"  thought  and  written  by  the  devil."  Reverting  to  his 
opponent,  he  says :  "  This  crazy  Miiller  is  as  consistent  in 
his  talk  as  an  empty  flour  sack.  To-day  he  brags  on  the 
Wittenbergers  as  better  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  he 
makes  them  out  saints,  then  all  of  a  sudden,  as  a  con- 
clusion to  the  discourse,  he  reproaches  their  vices  and 
threatens  them  with  coming  ruin  if  they  do  not  like  his 
preaching  and  put  it  into  practice." 

This  has  a  certain  vigor  and  liveliness,  to  be  sure,  but 
what  else  has  it?  Doubtless  there  was  better  polemical 
preaching  than  this  represents,  doubtless,  also,  there 
was  worse;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  controversial  element 
of  the  Catholic  preaching  of  this  age  cannot  be  regarded 
as  greatly  to  its  credit,  either  for  depth  or  dignity. 

2.    THE  LEADING  CATHOLIC  PREACHERS 

As  compared  with  the  preceding  and  following  times, 
and  as  compared  with  the  Protestants  of  their  own  times, 
the  number  of  really  great  Catholic  preachers  in  the  six- 
tenth  century  was  very  small.  These  were  found  chiefly 
in  Italy  and  Spain,  with  a  few  in  Germany,  in  the  other 
lands  scarcely  any  that  demand  serious  notice.  In  Eng- 
land the  famous  Catholic  prelates  of  the  time — Wolsey, 
Gardiner,  Tunstall,  Bonner  and  Pole — were  distinguished 
for  other  things  than  preaching.  In  France  a  few  are 
mentioned  by  writers  on  the  history  of  preaching,1  as 
Vigor  of  Narbonne,  Charles  de  Lorraine,  Jean  Boucher, 
Pierre  Divole,  Edmond  Auger,  and  others.  But  it  is 
significant  that  Boucher,  in  his  so-called  "  Literary  His- 
tory of  Preaching,"  2  himself  a  Frenchman,  should  say 
of  this  period  in  France  that  "  the  sixteenth  century  per- 
mits us  to  make  the  excursion  across  foreign  literatures ; 
we  shall  return  to  France  for  the  preachers  of  the  League 
and  of  the  reign  of  Henry  IV."  In  other  words,  even  to 
a  French  Catholic  writer,  the  preachers  of  his  church 
and  country  in  the  early  sixteenth  century  do  not  seem 

1  As  Zanotto  and  Christlieb,  op.  cit. 
*  L' Eloquence  de  la  Chair e,  etc.,  p.  274. 


536  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

worth  mentioning  in  comparison  with  those  of  other 
lands.  In  the  countries  of  northern  and  eastern  Europe 
a  few  are  mentioned  by  Zanotto,  evidently  to  fill  up,  but 
there  were  none  of  distinction.  So  we  may  confine  our 
view  to  the  preachers  of  Germany,  Italy  and  Spain. 

In  Germany,  John  Eck,  the  clever  opponent  of  Luther, 
was  a  man  of  learning  and  influence,  but  was  not  specially 
significant  as  a  preacher,  though  he  contributed  a  col- 
lection of  sketches,  or  short  expository  sermons,  on  the 
Gospels,  in  aid  of  the  clergy.  A  similar  service  was  per- 
formed by  Martin  Eisengrein,  also  not  otherwise  signifi- 
cant. There  is  also  a  volume  of  sermons  from  John 
Witzel,  who  was  a  milder  polemic  than  some  and  sought 
a  more  conciliatory  way  of  meeting  Protestantism  than 
was  common.  More  sharp  in  controversy,  as  we  have 
had  occasion  to  see,  was  John  Nas,  who  was  an  Alsatian 
by  birth,  first  joined  the  Franciscans  as  a  lay  brother, 
and  was  afterwards,  because  of  his  readiness  in  speech, 
made  a  preacher,  and  became  one  of  the  cleverest  and 
most  noted  opponents  of  the  Reformation.  But  by  all 
odds  the  most  important  Romanist  preachers  in  Ger- 
many at  this  period  were  Wild  and  Canisius,  and  they  are 
entitled  to  more  extended  notice  than  the  rest. 

,A  man  of  decided  talent  and  merit  was  the  celebrated 
Cathedral  preacher  at  Mainz,  John  Wild  (d.  1554),  or,  in 
the  Latin  form,  Johannes  Ferus.1  A  veil  of  obscurity 
covers  the  birthplace,  parentage  and  early  years  of  John 
Wild.  It  appears  that  he  was  of  German  birth,  and  that 
about  1520  he  joined  the  Franciscans,  no  doubt  from  mo- 
tives of  piety  and  devotion  to  the  Catholic  church.  In 
1528  he  was  appointed  by  the  elector  of  Mainz  to  the 
post  of  afternoon  preacher  at  the  Cathedral  in  that  city, 
and  was  soon  afterwards  made  guardian  of  his  order  for 
the  region  about  Mainz.  Here  he  was  diligent  and  popu- 
lar in  preaching  for  many  years.  His  learning,  piety  and 
eloquence  gave  him  wide  influence ;  and  his  amiable  spirit 
and  aversion  to  polemics  were  remarkable  in  that  tem- 

1Leroux,  Les  PrGdicateurs  celebres  de  I'Allemagne;  various 
cyclopaedia  articles;  and  a  Latin  Dissertatio  de  Johanne  Fero, 
monacho  et  concionatore  Moguntino,  teste  veritatis  evangelicae, 
by  E.  G.  Dieterich,  presented  for  his  degree  at  Altdorf  in  1723. 
Also  a  Latin  translation  of  Wild's  sermons,  published  in  1559. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          $37 

pestuous  age.  By  1545  he  had  become  widely  known  as 
one  of  the  most  important  preachers  of  the  times,  and 
he  drew  large  congregations.  In  1552  Albert  of  Bran- 
denburg, also  electoral  archbishop  of  Mainz,  having  be- 
come Protestant,  found  it  necessary  to  reduce  the  city 
to  his  authority  by  force,  and  captured  it.  He  greatly 
respected  Wild',  and  tried  to  win  him  to  Protestantism 
by  asking  him  to  abandon  his  Franciscan  gown ;  but  Wild 
answered,  "  This  habit  has  been  with  me  these  many 
years  and  has  never  harmed  me;  why  should  I  leave  it 
now  ?  "  Probably  Albert  would  not  have  removed  him 
from  his  place  as  preacher  had  he  renounced  his  order; 
as  it  was,  he  was  displaced  by  a  Protestant  preacher 
for  a  while,  but  on  Albert's  death  he  was  restored  to  his 
pulpit  at  the  Cathedral.  He  did  not,  however,  live  very 
long  after  this,  but  died  in  1554. 

Wild  made  and  filled  his  own  place  among  the  preach- 
ers of  his  time.  In  learning  he  was  abreast  of  the  age, 
being  acquainted  with  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  well  read 
in  history  and  theology,  patristic  and  mediaeval.  In  char- 
acter he  was  above  all  reproach  for  piety  and  justly  es- 
teemed by  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike  for  his  amiabil- 
ity, moderation  and  earnestness.  His  theological  position 
was  a  mediating  one.1  He  learned  much  from  the  re- 
formers, and  approached  them  in  many  particulars  both 
of  doctrine  and  method.  He  said  that  "  from  the  error 
of  the  moderns  he  had  here  and  there  dug  out  a  pearl," 
but  he  qualified  this  by  saying  further  that  if  he  had 
borrowed  from  the  innovators  he  believed  it  was  only 
such  things  as  were  in  accord  with  the  church  doctrines. 
He  proclaimed  his  independence  by  saying,  "  I  flatter  no 
one,  but  purely  announce  to  you  the  gospel  in  such  a  way 
as  I  shall  answer  for  it  to  the  Supreme  Judge."  As  a 
consequence,  his  writings  and  sermons  were  admired  and 
quoted  by  some  Protestants,  and  Dieterich  has  shown  that 
it  is  possible  to  cull  from  his  works  many  clear  and  strik- 
ing statements  dear  to  the  reformers.  For  example,  as  to 
Scripture,  in  rebuking  those  who  would  allege  obscurity 
of  the  Bible  as  an  excuse  for  not  obeying  its  precepts,  he 
teaches  that  the  Scripture  should  be  read  by  all,  that  it 

1  This  point  is  well  discussed  and  illustrated  by  quotations  in 
the  Dissertation  of  Dieterich. 


538  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

can  be  understood  by  the  common  man,  and  that  it 
should  be  explained  by  its  own  light.  In  one  place  he 
roundly  says,  "  Sola  scriptura  regida  est  veritatis."  And 
so,  while  not  discarding  the  Catholic  traditions  and 
usages,  he  puts  them  below  Scripture.  One  of  his  utter- 
ances is  well  worth  quoting  as  an  example  both  of  his 
manner  and  his  thought.  He  says :  "  In  the  gospel 
Christ  has  touched  upon  many  things  which  now  exist 
among  us  Christians,  who,  after  the  manner  of  the  Phari- 
sees, are  taken  up,  not  only  with  fasts,  but  also  with  all 
the  church  regulations ;  who,  as  Christ  himself  said,  strain 
out  the  gnat  and  swallow  the  camel.  Yea,  there  are  many 
things  (if,  indeed,  I  must  acknowledge  the  truth  and 
judge  of  it)  in  which  our  Christianity  has  become  no- 
thing else  than  an  empty  pharisaism — outward  show,  in 
which  one  finds  many  ceremonies  but  little  righteous- 
ness, much  song  and  little  devotion,  much  appearance 
and  little  truth,  much  word  and  little  spirit,  the  breaking 
off  from  certain  kinds  of  food,  but  no  breaking  off  from 
sins.  On  the  former  there  is  insistence,  the  latter  is  for- 
gotten. When  we  hold  fast  the  church  regulation  it  is  a 
great  thing,  when  we  despise  God's  commandment,  yea, 
daily  sin  against  it,  no  harm  is  done."  This  earnest  re- 
buke is  only  too  sadly  appropriate  to  all  times  and 
churches,  but  it  is  gratifying  to  find  a  Catholic  of  emi- 
nence who  dared  so  to  express  himself  in  those  days. 

As  a  preacher  Wild  had  the  talents  and  spirit  that  al- 
ways attract  and  command  attention.  During  his  long 
service  as  Cathedral  preacher  at  Mainz  his  audiences 
were  large  and  his  influence  great.  His  published  ser- 
mons are  numerous.  He  spoke  in  German  and  some  of 
his  discourses  are  preserved  in  that  tongue,  but  a  very 
large  number  in  Latin  translations  also.  They  once  had 
large  circulation  among  both  Protestants  and  Catholics. 
As  he  said,  they  were  not  intended  for  the  learned  alone, 
but  for  the  common  people.  In  addition  to  their  doc- 
trinal import,  already  considered,  the  sermons  are  marked 
by  their  prevailing  expository  character.  They  are  chiefly 
homilies  on  the  Scripture  books,  and  easily  pass  into 
commentaries,  of  which  he  also  wrote  a  number.  And  so 
we  may  sum  up  by  saying  that  for  his  emphasis  on  Scrip- 
ture, for  his  grasp  of  evangelical  truth,  for  his  inde- 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,    AGE          539 

pendence  and  yet  moderation,  for  his  earnest  piety  and 
amiable  character,  and  for  his  sustained  power  in  the  pul- 
pit, John  Wild  must  be  ranked  with  the  very  best  of  the 
few  who  attained  distinction  as  preachers  among  the 
Catholics  of  his  age. 

A  very  different  man,  but  no  less  eminent  in  his  diverse 
way,  was  the  famous  Jesuit  preacher  and  polemic  Peter 
Canisius  (1521-1 597).*  Born  in  1521,  of  excellent  fam- 
ily, at  Nimeguen,  in  the  province  of  Gueldres,  he  was 
educated  carefully  in  preparatory  schools  and  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cologne,  where  he  took  the  regular  degrees  in 
course  and  was  especially  devoted  to  theology.  He  was 
the  first  German  of  any  importance  to  join  the  newly 
founded  Society  of  Jesus,  and  his  accession  was  hailed 
with  pleasure  and  proved  to  be  distinguished.  In  1543 
Faber  came  to  Germany  to  establish  the  order  there, 
and  Canisius,  then  twenty-two  years  old,  and  already  a 
very  promising  scholar  and  preacher,  was  won.  He  was 
sent  by  his  archbishop,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  to  take 
part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and 
rendered  good  service  for  the  short  time  that  he  was 
there.  Later  he  was  sent  to  Rome,  where  for  several 
years  he  studied  and  worked  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  Loyola  himself,  and  also  served  a  year  as 
teacher  and  preacher  at  Messina. 

After  all  these  preparatory  years  he  was  at  last  sent 
back  to  his  life  work  in  Germany.  At  first  he  taught 
and  preached  at  Ingolstadt  with  great  applause,  and  his 
services  were  much  sought  after  in  many  places.  At  the 
earnest  request  of  Ferdinand  of  Austria  he  was  sent  to 
Vienna,  where  for  a  number  of  years  he  did  effective 
work  in  the  interests  of  his  order  and  of  the  Catholic 
church.  During  this  time  he  prepared  and  published  a 
Catechism  which  has  ranked  among  the  works  of  that 
character  most  highly  esteemed  by  Catholics.  His 
preaching  also  drew  great  crowds,  and  did  much  to  give 
to  the  Romanist  cause  its  abiding  strength  in  Vienna  and 
throughout  Austria.  Canisius  was  offered  a  bishopric, 
but  steadily  refused.  Afterwards  he  labored  with  great 

Authorities  before  noted,  but  especially  the  art.  in  Wetzer 
und  Welte;  Canisius'  Notae  Evangelicae ,  in  an  edition  published 
at  Freiburg,  1591. 


540  A    HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

effect  in  Bavaria,  and  then  in  other  parts  of  Germany. 
He  not  only  put  new  life  and  courage  into  his  Catholic 
brethren  everywhere,  but  is  said  to  have  been  very  suc- 
cessful also  in  winning-  back  many  Protestants  to  the  Ro- 
manist faith.  So  highly  were  his  abilities  regarded  as  a 
disputant  against  Protestantism  that  he  was  especially 
deputed  by  the  pope  to  write  a  reply  to  the  famous  Mag- 
deburg Centuries,  the  church  history  written  from  the 
Protestant  point  of  view.  Many  engagements  and  labors 
hindered  the  production  of  Canisius'  reply,  but  when  it 
at  last  appeared  it  was  considered  very  satisfactory  to  his 
side.  Thus  variously  and  strenuously  occupied  in  many 
places  in  Germany,  Canisius  yet  lived  to  old  age,  not  dying 
till  1597.  In  his  lifetime  and  since,  he  has  been  regarded 
as  the  ablest  defender  of  Romanism  in  Germany  during 
the  time  in  which  he  lived,  his  name  is  held  in  veneration, 
not  only  among  Jesuits,  but  among  Catholics  generally, 
and  in  1864  Pius  IX.  pronounced  him  "  blessed  " — the 
degree  next  below  sainthood. 

Besides  the  history  and  catechism  already  mentioned, 
Canisius  wrote  and  published  a  number  of  theological 
and  exegetical  works.  The  latter  are  particularly  signi- 
ficant because  they  show  the  effect  of  the  Protestant  ex- 
egesis in  forcing  this  foremost  Catholic  disputant  in 
Germany  also  to  employ  that  weapon.  The  Romanist  esti- 
mate of  Canisius  will  appear  from  the  following  passage 
from  the  article  in  Wetzer  and  Welte's  Kirchenlexicon: 
"  Unpublished  manuscript  expressions  of  his,  still  pre- 
served, show  how  clearly  and  profoundly  he  understood 
the  essence  of  Protestantism.  Far  more  impressive  than 
harnessed  defence  appeared  to  him  the  positive  teaching 
and  strengthening  of  the  Catholics;  and,  therefore,  this 
element  dominates  in  all  his  writings.  Luther's  coarse 
popular  wit,  passion,  agitator's  rhetoric,  are  wholly 
lacking  in  him.  Instead  there  appears  in  his  (mostly 
Latin)  works  the  closest  familiarity  with  Holy  Scripture, 
extensive  acquaintance  with  the  Fathers  and  with  the 
positive  and  scholastic  theology,  an  earnest  humanistic 
culture,  great  reading  of  the  works  of  the  Protestant 
theologians,  a  dignified  polemical  readiness  to  strike, 
piety,  decision,  and  the  mildness  of  a  generally  apostolic 
man."  From  the  prodigious  activity  of  Canisius  as  a 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR    REFORMATORY,   AGE          541 

preacher  the  literary  remains  are  slight — only  a  volume 
of  expository  sketches  in  Latin,  called  Evangelical  Notes, 
and  consisting  of  comments,  in  the  homily  style,  on  the 
Scripture  lessons  appointed  for  the  sacred  days  of  the 
ecclesiastical  year.  It  is  of  course  not  fair  to  judge  his 
powers  by  these  alone,  but,  making  due  allowances  for 
their  imperfect  form,  they  hardly  sustain  the  high  esti- 
mate which  Catholics  place  upon  Canisius  either  as  ex- 
egete  or  preacher.  Waiving  the  question  of  doctrines,  the 
adoration  of  Mary  and  the  saints,  and  other  distinctively 
Catholic  features,  we  do  not  find  the  depth  of  thought, 
accuracy  of  interpretation,  or  power  of  expression  which 
we  should  expect.  Yet  the  style  and  spirit  are  worthy  of 
commendation,  and  the  exegesis  marks  a  notable  advance 
upon  the  scholastic  and  allegorical  method  of  former 
times. 

We  should  naturally  expect  to  find  a  larger  number  of 
great  Catholic  preachers  during  this  time  in  Italy  rather 
than  elsewhere,  and  though  there  is  no  multitude,  the 
facts  justify  that  expectation.1  We  can,  however,  from 
the  number  of  those  mentioned  by  the  authorities  select 
only  a  few  of  the  most  important  for  brief  consideration. 

Among  the  preachers  of  the  early  part  of  the  century 
none  perhaps  had  so  great  a  reputation  as  Egidio  da  Vi- 
terbo  (d.  1532).  The  place  of  his  birth  is  uncertain,  but 
his  surname  suggests  Viterbo.  He  seems  to  have  been 
of  humble  but  respectable  origin,  but  little  is  known  of 
him  until,  in  1488,  he  joined  the  Augustinian  monks. 
After  this  he  spent  some  time  in  studies  at  various  places, 
including  Padua,  Florence  and  Rome.  He  was  fond  of 
Platonic  philosophy  and  gave  lectures  at  Florence.  Al- 
ready, in  his  young  manhood,  he  preached  at  Rome  with 
applause,  and  won  the  favorable  notice  of  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.,  whose  favor,  indeed,  may  not  be  considered 
any  special  compliment,  except  for  his  capacity  to  discern 

1  For  the  Italian  preachers  of  the  period  I  have  chiefly  used  the 
following  authorities :  Zanotto's  Storia  delta  Predicazione ;  a 
bright  critical  introduction  to  an  Antologia  della  Sacra  Eloquenza 
Moderna,  da  Ulisse  Micocci ;  notices  in  the  appropriate  volumes 
of  Tiraboschi's  great  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana;  articles  in 
Encyclopedia  Italiana;  Cardinal  Fred.  Borromeo's  De  Sacris  nos- 
trorum  Temporum  Oratoribus;  and  to  some  extent  the  works  of 
the  preachers  themselves,  as  far  as  available. 


542  A    HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

talent.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  Franciscan  Gen- 
azzano,  the  rival  of  Savonarola,  and  accompanied  him  to 
Naples  in  1498,  where  Genazzano  died  and  Egidio  was 
very  ill,  but  recovered,  and  his  preaching  attracted  great 
notice.  King  Ferdinand  of  Naples  sent  him  to  many 
places  in  his  dominions  to  preach,  and  indeed  his  fame 
spread  all  over  Italy.  His  services  were  in  such  demand 
as  preacher  during  Lent  and  other  seasons  that  Pope 
Julius  II.,  it  is  said,  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  giv- 
ing Egidio  his  appointments.  This  pope  also  employed 
him  on  a  confidential  mission  to  Venice.  He  also  served 
ten  years  as  General  of  his  order.  Leo  X.  greatly  ad- 
mired him,  and  made  him  a  cardinal  in  1517.  Such  emi- 
nent scholars  and  critics  as  Bembo  and  Sadolet  speak 
in  the  highest  terms  of  his  talents  and  eloquence,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  learning  and  eminence  as  a 
preacher.  But  his  sermons  seem  to  have  perished  in  the 
sack  of  Rome  under  Charles  V.,  and  no  specimens  of  his 
pulpit  work  have  survived. 

Passing  over  several  men  of  some  note  who  flourished 
in  the  early  decades  of  the  century  with  and  after  Egidio, 
we  come  to  a  group  of  three  whose  work  lay  from  the 
middle  toward  the  end  of  the  age.  First  of  these  is  the 
much-praised  Cornelio  Musso  (d.  1575),  who  was  born 
in  1511,  of  good  family,  at  Piacenza.  At  nine  years  of  age 
he  entered  as  a  novice  the  Franciscan  order,  received 
his  early  education  at  their  convent  at  Carpi,  showing 
both  diligence  in  study  and  promising  oratorical  talent. 
While  a  youth  of  nineteen  he  was  invited  to  Venice, 
and  on  Annunciation  day  in  the  Cathedral  of  San 
Marco  preached  a  sermon  to  the  wonder  of  all  hearers. 
But,  like  young  Bossuet  afterwards,  he  was  not  unwisely 
seduced  from  study  by  this  early  recognition  of  his 
powers,  but  the  rather  devoted  himself  to  his  books.  In 
1 530  he  went  to  Padua,  where  he  studied  hard  under  good 
teachers,  making  progress  in  Greek  and  Hebrew,  as  well 
as  other  branches,  and  in  philosophy  and  oratory.  During 
all  this  time  he  was  preaching  much,  and  was  heard  with 
admiration. 

Soon  he  was  called  as  preacher  to  Milan,  and  also  held 
a  lectureship  at  the  University  of  Padua.  Later  he  lec- 
tured on  philosophy  and  theology  at  Bologna,  all  the 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         543 

while  being  much  in  demand  as  preacher  in  various 
places.  In  1541  he  is  found  at  Rome,  where  he  is  highly 
regarded  by  the  pope,  who  frequently  takes  counsel  with 
him  on  important  questions  of  theology.  As  a  reward  he 
was  made  bishop,  first  of  Bertinoro,  and  then  of  Bitonto, 
under  which  appellation  he  is  best  known.  It  fell  to 
Musso  to  preach  the  opening  sermon  at  the  famous  Coun- 
cil of  Trent,  and  he  discharged  that  duty  in  a  way  to  win 
extravagant  eulogies  from  the  assembled  prelates,  show- 
ing himself,  as  Tiraboschi  says,  "  at  once  a  profound  the- 
ologian and  eloquent  orator."  After  the  Council  of  Trent 
he  returned  to  his  bishopric  of  Bitonto,  and  was  diligent 
as  bishop  and  preacher  there  for  some  years,  but  was  later 
called  to  Rome  by  Gregory  XIII.,  and  died  there,  in 

1575- 

A  selection  of  ten  of  his  sermons  was  published  as 
early  as  1554,  and  a  number  of  discourses  on  various 
subjects  appeared  later.  Many  of  them  were  translated 
into  Latin,  Spanish,  and  French.  They  had  wide  circu- 
lation, and  were  much  praised  by  excellent  critics  among 
the  Catholics.  Still,  to  our  thinking,  the  sermons  would 
be  by  no  means  models  for  imitation,  being  rather  long 
and  minute  in  some  details,  not  remarkably  well  ar- 
ranged, and  not  always  in  good  taste.  Yet,  according  to 
Tiraboschi :  "If  Musso  be  compared  with  his  predeces- 
sors, he  is  to  them  like  gold  to  earth." 

Not  an  orator,  but  a  man  of  high  character,  a  prelate 
of  distinction,  a  useful  preacher  and  helper  of  preaching, 
was  St.  Charles  Borromeo  of  Milan  (1538-1584).  He 
came  of  a  distinguished  family  in  north  Italy.  He 
was  a  faithful  student,  though  at  first  somewhat  slow. 
The  pure  and  pious  lad  was  early  designed  for  the  cleri- 
cal profession,  and  his  uncle,  Julius  Caesar  Borromeo, 
resigned  in  the  boy's  favor  an  abbacy  which  had  consid- 
erable revenues.  Already  the  lad  showed  signs  of  the 
coming  reformer  and  saint,  for  he  requested  his  father  to 
take  charge  of  these  revenues  and  employ  them  in  charity, 
while  he  went  on  with  his  studies  at  Milan  and  Pavia, 
and  preserved  his  purity  amid  the  snares  of  college  life. 
Pope  Pius  IV.  was  his  uncle,  and,  availing  himself  of  the 
talents  of  his  young  kinsman,  appointed  him  to  great 
offices  in  the  church.  Though  very  young  and  not  yet 


544  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

ordained  a  priest,  he  was  made  cardinal  deacon  and  arch- 
bishop of  Milan.  Borromeo  did  not  approve  of  such 
abuses,  and  reluctantly  accepted  office  in  obedience  to  the 
pope. 

As  a  cardinal  and  an  official  in  the  pope's  household, 
he  lived  at  Rome  as  befitted  his  dignity,  but  felt  all  the 
while  that  he  ought  to  be  ordained  and  take  hold  of  the 
work  of  his  diocese  at  Milan.  Though  only  twenty-three 
years  old,  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  real  ruler  of  the 
church  in  the  name  of  Pius  IV.,  and  it  is  claimed  that  not 
for  a  long  time  had  the  affairs  of  the  papacy  been  so 
well  administered.  In  these  times  of  much  responsibility 
and  public  business  he  gave  his  nights  largely  to  study, 
and  with  him  as  a  centre  there  was  a  circle  of  studious 
men  who  used  to  spend  their  evenings  in  scholarly  con- 
verse at  the  Vatican. 

On  the  death  of  Charles'  elder  brother  without  heir,  he 
was  solicited  by  his  kindred,  including  even  the  pope,  to 
resign  his  church  offices  and  marry.  But  he  said  he  had 
wedded  another  bride ;  and  to  be  rid  of  the  importunities 
of  his  relatives  he  at  once  consummated  his  long-deferred 
ordination  as  priest  and  bishop.  Having  received  requis- 
ite authority  from  the  pope,  he  instituted  some  much- 
needed  reforms  in  the  discipline  of  the  clergy.  He  also 
took  hold  of  the  dilatory  and  much-interrupted  Council 
of  Trent,  and  under  his  skilful  influence  that  body  soon 
accomplished  its  labors.  To  him,  with  others,  was  com- 
mitted the  preparation  of  the  Tridentine  Catechism,  that 
clear  and  compact  standard  of  Catholic  doctrine. 

At  last,  in  1565,  he  was  free  to  take  up  his  work,  per- 
formed in  his  long  absence  by  deputies,  as  archbishop  of 
Milan.  He  found  things  in  great  disorder,  but  he  soon 
proved  himself  almost  another  Ambrose ;  and  to  this  day 
his  name  is  honored  at  Milan  along  with  that  of  his  most 
illustrious  predecessor.  He  set  the  example  of  self- 
denial  that  he  required  in  his  clergy.  He  was  diligent 
in  all  the  work  of  a  bishop,  preaching  much  and  adminis- 
tering affairs  with  a  firm  and  skilful  hand.  His  deter- 
mined and  vigorous  discipline  made  enemies  among  the 
less  worthy  of  the  clergy,  and  one  of  these  attempted  his 
life,  shooting  at  him  while  he  was  engaged  in  prayer  in 
the  church.  But  the  bullet  somehow  did  not  take  effect, 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         545 

and  his  escape  was  accounted  a  miracle.  When  the 
plague  desolated  Italy  and  visited  Milan  the  archbishop 
was  away,  but  on  its  appearance  he  promptly  returned 
to  his  post  of  duty  and  labored  in  visitation  and  charities. 
He  escaped  the  plague,  but  not  long  after  fell  sick  of  a 
fever  and  died  in  1584. 

As  a  preacher,  so  far  as  gifts  of  oratory  are  concerned, 
Borromeo  cannot  be  ranked  with  Musso  and  Panigarola, 
but  he  was  as  diligent  and  conscientious  in  this  part  of  his 
work  as  in  other  things.  His  sermons  were  instructive, 
and  spiritually  helpful  to  his  people.  Of  course,  one  of 
the  leading  theologians  of  Trent  was  a  thorough-going 
Catholic  in  doctrine.  His  voice  and  utterance  were  not 
specially  pleasing,  but  his  knowledge  of  human  nature,  his 
earnest  spirit,  the  thoughtfulness  of  his  matter,  and  the 
weight  and  elevation  of  his  character  gave  to  his  preach- 
ing a  power  which  mere  graces  of  rhetoric  could  not 
have  brought.  His  great  interest  in  preaching  and  the 
reforms  he  instituted  in  that  department,  apart  from  his 
own  work  in  the  pulpit,  give  him  a  worthy  place  in  the 
history  of  preaching. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  most 
popular  and  famous  Italian  preacher  was  Francesco  Pani- 
garola (1548-1594).  Born  at  Milan,  of  gentle  family, 
he  received  careful  training  in  youth,  and  early  gave 
evidence  of  a  remarkably  retentive  memory  and  of  ora- 
torical powers  of  a  high  order.  He  studied  law  for  some 
years  at  Pavia  and  Bologna,  leading  at  the  same  time 
a  somewhat  loose  life.  Recalled  to  serious  thoughts  by 
the  death  of  his  father,  he  determined  to  preach,  and  in 
1567  he  joined  the  Franciscan  order  and  soon  became 
noted  for  his  preaching  talents.  In  1571  he  went  to 
Paris  for  further  theological  education,  and  while  there 
preached  with  acceptance  before  Catherine  dei  Medici. 
After  spending  some  time  at  Lyons  and  Antwerp,  he  re- 
turned in  1573  to  Italy,  and  during  the  following  years, 
while  preaching  much,  also  taught  theology  in  various 
convents  of  his  order.  He  passed  two  years  with  Bor- 
romeo at  Milan,  who  highly  regarded  him  and  used  him 
in  preaching.  Later  Panigarola  was  appointed  to  a  bish- 
opric, but,  through  envy,  he  was  falsely  accusedj  and 
suffered  somewhat  in  reputation  for  a  while.  The 


546  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

charges  against  him  not  being  sustained,  he  was  pro- 
moted in  1587  to  the  bishopric  of  Asti.  Soon  afterwards 
he  was  called  to  Paris  to  help  the  Catholic  cause  there 
as  one  of  the  preachers  of  the  League,  which  his  ready 
acquaintance  with  French  enabled  him  to  do  with  credit. 
In  1590  he  returned  to  his  diocese,  which  he  administered 
with  diligence  till  his  death,  a  few  years  later. 

Panigarola  had  a  fine  voice  and  figure  and  a  flowing, 
pleasing  style  of  speech,  but  the  critics  find  him  some- 
what artificial  and  seeking  after  effect.  His  arrange- 
ment is  usually  clear  and  good,  and  the  expression  fluent 
and  agreeable.  Tiraboschi  considers  his  fame  well 
founded,  but  Zanotto  is  scarcely  so  sure  of  it ;  and  if  the 
specimens  of  his  work  given  by  the  latter  are  fair  sam- 
ples of  his  manner,  there  is  far  more  evidence  of  fluency 
than  of  depth  either  of  thought  or  feeling. 

Spain  was  less  affected  by  the  Reformation  than  any 
other  Catholic  country,  and  it  is  just  what  we  should  ex- 
pect when  we  find  the  distinctive  Catholic  preaching  more 
prominent  than  in  Germany  or  even  in  Italy.  Of  the 
preachers  who  were  active  during  the  sixteenth  century 
three  at  least  are  deserving  of  special  notice:  Juan  de 
Avila,  Luiz  de  Granada  and  Thomas  de  Villanova. 

The  most  evangelical  of  the  three  was  the  so-called 
"Apostle  of  Andalusia,"  Juan  de  Avila  (d.  1569).  He 
was  of  humble  but  respectable  birth,  received  his  educa- 
tion at  Salamanca  and  Alcala,  and  devoted  himself  with 
zeal  and  success  to  preaching,  more  especially  in  Anda- 
lusia. He  loved  to  preach  to  the  common  people,  and 
his  converts  were  numbered  among  the  thousands.  He 
desired  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  the  East  Indies,  but 
was  urgently  dissuaded  by  the  archbishop  of  Seville, 
who  wished  to  retain  his  rare  preaching  talent  for  the 
work  at  home.  He  began  to  preach  at  Seville,  but  visited 
many  other  towns.  It  is  said  that  he  could  move  his 
hearers  by  a  single  word,  by  a  look  even.  His  wonderful 
success  aroused  envy,  he  did  not  escape  attack,  but  the 
Inquisition  could  not  find  the  charges  justified.  He  re- 
fused various  high  church  offices,  but  was  highly  re- 
garded in  his  life  and  after  his  death.  Many  of  his  ser- 
mons were  translated  into  various  languages.  The  abbe 
Boucher  *  says  of  him :  "  We  have  of  him  sermons  in, 
*L'Eloquence  de  la  Chaire,  etc. 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         547 

which  there  is  found  much  of  dash,  of  warmth,  and  of 
passion.  But  rapidly  improvised,  they  leave  much  to  be 
desired  in  respect  to  form." 

Famous  both  as  preacher  and  as  author  of  devotional 
books,  praised  by  popes  and  saints,  and  admired  by  liter- 
ary critics,  in  his  own  country,  was  Luiz  de  Granada  l 
(1504-1588).  He  was  born  of  poor  parents  at  Granada, 
in  1504.  One  day  he  and  another  boy  had  a  quarrel, 
which  soon  came  to  blows.  A  Spanish  nobleman  wit- 
nessed the  affair  and  parted  the  lads,  whereupon  Luiz 
stated  his  side  of  the  case  and  pleaded  his  cause  with 
such  good  reasoning  and  eloquence  that  the  count  was  im- 
pressed by  the  boy's  talents,  and  became  so  much  interested 
in  him  that  he  was  allowed  to  pursue  his  studies  along 
with  the  gentleman's  sons  without  charge.  At  nineteen 
years  of  age  Luiz  entered  the  Dominican  order,  of  which 
he  became  a  distinguished  ornament.  He  studied  philoso- 
phy and  theology  at  the  University  of  Valencia.  He 
worked  for  his  order  in  various  ways,  but  chiefly  as 
teacher  and  preacher.  He  was  greatly  admired  and  be- 
loved among  all  classes.  Catherine,  the  sister  of  Charles 
V.,  offered  him  a  bishopric,  and  the  pope  desired  to  make 
him  a  cardinal,  but  he  declined  all  offers  of  ecclesiastical 
preferment,  and  remained,  first  of  all,  a  preacher,  though 
he  also  wrote  numbers  of  books.  After  a  life  of  industry 
and  devotion  he  died  at  Lisbon  in  December,  1588. 

Among  his  writings  the  Guide  to  Sinners  is  considered 
the  best,  of  which  a  Catholic  author  said  that  it  led  more 
sinners  to  God  than  it  contained  letters.  One  of  the 
leading  Spanish  literary  critics  is  quoted  as  saying: 
"  Never  has  a  devotional  author  spoken  with  such  dig- 
nity and  sublimity  of  God.  When  he  pictures  our  weak- 
ness and  poverty  over  against  the  almightiness  and  com- 
passion of  God,  when  he  represents  his  infinite  love  and 
our  ingratitude,  he  is  great,  sublime,  incomparable.  He 
is  among  the  mystics  what  Bossuet  was  among  the  ora- 
tors." The  same  critic  praises  his  style  as  uniting  charm 

1  Short  notices  in  Zanotto  and  Boucher,  opp.  citt.,  various  en- 
cyclopaedia articles,  preferably  the  one  in  Wetzer  und  Welte;  and 
best  of  all  some  of  the  works  of  Luiz  himself  in  Latin,  namely, 
his  Rhetorica  Ecclesiastica,  and  a  beautiful  old  edition  of  his  ser- 
mons, Condones  de  Temporibus,  etc.,  printed  at  Antwerp  in  1384, 
now  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  Paris. 


548  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

with  ornament,  and  compares  him  to  Chrysostom  in  ease, 
clearness,  richness,  fulness.  On  the  other  hand  Rothe,1 
the  German  Protestant,  is  not  so  enthusiastic,  for,  though 
admitting  the  oratorical  talent  of  Luiz,  he  declares  him 
deficient  in  training  and  in  taste,  and  says  his  sermons 
lack  order  and  are  overloaded  with  images,  comparisons, 
legends  and  the  like.  The  truth  lies  between  these  ex- 
tremes of  praise  and  censure. 

Beside  his  books  of  devotion  and  his  sermons,  Luiz 
published  an  interesting  and,  in  its  time,  useful  work  on 
the  art  of  preaching,  under  the  title,  Rhetorica  Ecclesias- 
lica  sen  de  Ratione  Concionandi.  The  treatise  has  not 
much  originality,  but  shows  easy  grasp  of  the  principles 
of  rhetoric  and  a  careful  reading  of  the  best  ancient 
treatises — Aristotle,  Demetrius  Phalereus,  Cicero,  though, 
apparently,  not  Quintilian — and  also  of  Augustine's  De 
Doctrina  Christiana.  He  treats  the  usual  subjects  of 
Invention,  Arrangement,  Style  and  Delivery  with  good 
sense  and  in  clear  and  agreeable  Latin.  He  earnestly  in- 
sists, both  in  the  beginning  and  conclusion,  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  preacher  as  the  highest  essential  to  good 
preaching,  and  urges  devotion  to  Christ  and  absorption 
in  him  in  the  act  of  preaching. 

The  sermons  of  Luiz  were  preached  and  many  of  them 
published  in  Spanish,  but  there  are  also  Latin  sermons. 
A  beautiful  old  edition  of  these,  published  at  Antwerp  in 
1584,  contains  a  large  number  of  discourses.  The  first 
sermon  on  the  Advent  is  based  on  the  text  Matt.  21  :i,2, 
our  Lord's'  sending  the  two  disciples  to  find  and  bring 
the  ass  and  her  colt  for  his  entry  into  Jerusalem.  The 
preacher  first  proposes  to  expound  the  Scripture  lesson 
and  then  discuss  the  reasons  why  the  church  celebrates 
the  Advent;  but  really  there  are  three  divisions,  thus: 
(i)  Meaning  of  finding  the  ass  and  colt.  They  signify 
the  Jews  and  Gentiles — the  latter  being  as  yet  unbroken 
to  the  yoke  of  the  divine  law,  and  all  in  bondage  to  sin — 
"  tied,"  but  Christ  gives  liberty.  (2)  Why  had  the  Lord 
need  of  these  humble  animals?  First,  to  show  his  humil- 
ity; and,  secondly,  to  show  his  power  to  deliver,  since 
as  already  said  the  asses  represent  sin-bound  people. 
[The  unfolding  of  this  thought  is  good,  notwithstanding 

1  Gesch.  der  Pred.,  S.  385  ff. 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         549 

the  way  he  gets  at  it]  (3)  Reasons  for  celebrating  Ad- 
vent. The  church,  like  a  good  mother,  provides  these 
sacred  seasons  for  the  spiritual  enjoyment  and  profit  of 
her  children ;  and  the  Advent  has,  among  other  blessings, 
the  reminder  of  the  fulfilling  of  the  promises  and  prophe- 
cies of  the  Messiah.  He  enlarges  upon  our  blessedness 
in  receiving  fully  what  the  Old  Testament  believers  only 
dimly  foresaw. 

The  five  sermons  on  penance  give  the  Catholic  doctrine, 
but  they  contain  much  that  is  spiritually  and  morally 
sound  and  profitable.  The  following  passage  from  the  in- 
troduction to  a  sermon  on  the  Epiphany  will  give  a  slight 
taste  of  his  style :  "  Among  all  the  benefits  which  the  un- 
measured kindness  of  God  has  conferred  on  the  human 
race  this  holds  the  highest  rank;  that  he  has  deigned  to 
grant  to  them  the  saving  knowledge  of  his  divinity,  with- 
out which  light  no  man  could  savingly  know  him.  For, 
as  no  one  is  able  to  see  the  sun  without  the  light  of  the 
sun  itself,  so  no  one  can  piously  receive  God  without  the 
aid  of  God  himself.  For  it  is  himself  to  whom  we  come, 
and  himself  by  whom  we  come;  he  is  the  way  which 
leads,  and  the  life  to  which  it  leads." 

One  of  the  very  best  of  the  Spanish  Catholic  preachers 
was  Thomas  Garcias  of  Villanova1  (d.  1555).  He  was 
born  in  the  diocese  of  Leon  in  1487,  but  his  parents  hav- 
ing come  from  Villanova,  he  was  later  called  by  that  sur- 
name. His  father  and  mother  were  poor  but  pious  folk, 
who  in  their  own  narrow  circumstances  always  found 
means  to  give  to  the  poor,  and  their  example  of  self-sacri- 
fice and  charity  made  a  profound  and  lasting  impression 
on  their  son.  Thomas  received  his  education  at  Alcala, 
the  recently  founded  university  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  and 
was  so  successful  a  student  that  soon  after  his  gradua- 
tion he  was  appointed  professor  of  philosophy  there. 
Later  he  was  called  to  the  older  university  of  Salamanca 
to  the  same  chair.  But  he  had  long  had  the  intention  of 
becoming  a  monk,  and  retired  from  this  high  position  to 
enter  the  Augustinian  order  in  1520  and  devote  himself 
to  preaching  and  the  direction  of  souls.  His  gifts  as  a 

1  Condones  Sacrae  illustrissimi  et  reverendissimi  D.  D.  Thomae 
a  Villanova;  Brixiae,  1603;  with  a  Life  prefixed.  In  addition  some 
other  notices  in  various  authorities. 


5 SO  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

preacher  attracted  attention  and  his  fame  began  to  spread. 
The  warm  admirer  who  wrote  the  life  prefixed  to  Villa- 
nova's  sermons  thus  speaks  of  his  powers :  "  It  is  a  thing 
most  worthy  of  the  greatest  admiration  that  he  was  able 
so  freely  to  satisfy  by  one  and  the  same  discourse  men 
of  so  diverse  minds.  These  are  the  divine  powers  of 
liquid  truth  and  sincere  virtue.  Of  these  I  was  an  eye- 
witness, who  took  diligent  care  never  to  be  absent  from  a 
sermon  of  that  man." 

Villanova  attracted  the  notice  of  the  emperor, 
Charles  V.,  who  made  him  one  of  his  preachers,  and 
wished  to  promote  him  to  higher  ecclesiastical  dignities. 
Villanova  refused  the  archbishopric  of  Granada,  but  was 
at  last  constrained  by  his  superiors  to  accept  that  of  Val- 
encia. But  he  entered  on  his  episcopal  duties  in  the  spirit 
of  his  order,  came  on  foot  with  a  single  attendant,  and 
clad  in  his  monk's  habit.  He  immediately  began  a  visita- 
tion of  his  diocese  and  the  reform  of  abuses.  This,  as 
usual,  provoked  opposition  and  enmity  from  the  corrupt 
element  of  the  clergy;  but  he  went  on  his  way.  He  re- 
served of  his  revenues  only  what  was  needed  for  his  liv- 
ing, and  gave  the  rest  in  charity  and  religious  works.  All 
the  while  he  was  active  and  frequent  in  preaching,  and 
gave  to  his  public  ministry  the  effectual  backing  of  a  life 
of  purity  and  piety.  The  feebleness  of  his  health  pre- 
vented his  attendance  upon  the  Council  of  Trent.  When 
about  to  die  he  gave  to  the  poor  what  few  personal  effects 
he  had,  and  left  orders  that  the  bed  on  which  he  died 
should  be  given  to  some  destitute  prisoner. 

The  published  collection  of  his  sermons,  done  into 
Latin,  contains  about  a  hundred  discourses  on  various 
subjects  dear  to  Catholics,  more  especially  those  on  the 
Church  seasons.  Some  are  on  the  Song  of  Solomon,  a 
number  in  praise  of  the  Virgin,  and  a  good  many  on  the 
saints,  all  the  way  from  John  the  Baptist  to  Augustine 
and  Ildefonso.  One  of  the  best  of  them  is  a  sermon  on 
the  Last  Judgment,  which  discusses  the  subject  in  a 
Scriptural  way,  as  well  as  with  good  reasoning,  and  con- 
tains some  passages  of  real  power.  The  introduction  runs 
thus :  "  Being  now  about  to  speak  of  the  solemnity  and 
the  manner  of  the  final  judgment,  I  beseech  thee,  benign 
Spirit,  from  on  high  to  faU  upon  our  minds  and  gra- 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         551 

ciously  infuse  the  hearts  of  thy  people,  that  we  may  have 
the  sentiments  worthy  of  so  great  a  mystery,  and  that 
what  we  may  worthily  feel  we  may  pour  forth  in  full 
speech.  Put  the  right  and  the  well-sounding  word  into 
my  mouth,  and  let  it  sound  forth  from  my  mouth  as  from 
a  trumpet  to  the  people  of  God — thy  own  speech — so 
that  both  the  ears  of  those  who  hear  may  tingle,  and  they 
be  converted  to  thee,  O  Lord,  lest  thy  wrath  on  that  day 
may  swallow  them  up  alive." 

Then  follows  the  customary  invocation  to  the  Virgin 
for  her  intercession,  and  afterwards  the  statement  of  the 
divisions,  which  are  :  (i)  The  reasons,  and  (2)  the  char- 
acter of  the  judgment,  with  appropriate  and  clear  sub- 
division. In  a  fine  passage — too  long  to  quote  entire — he 
treats  of  those  Scriptures  which  say  that  judgment  shall 
be  in  the  hands  of  Christ,  and  thus  proceeds :  "  I  will  not 
refuse  him  for  a  judge  whom  I  have  had  as  a  redeemer; 
the  lamb,  I  say,  slain  for  me,  him  I  request  as  my  judge, 
him  I  desire,  him  I  long  for  with  all  my  strength.  I 
will  not  accuse  him  of  cruelty,  for  he  is  a  lamb ;  I  will  not 
hold  his  friendship  under  suspicion,  for  he  is  my  brother 
and  my  flesh ;  nor  will  I  fear  for  his  rectitude,  for  he  is 
God  himself.  I  will  not  refuse  to  appear  at  the  tribunal 
of  him  who  did  not  disdain  to  stand  for  me  at  the  tribunal 
of  a  wicked  judge.  Whatever  he  has  decreed  for  me  I 
will  willingly  receive.  Therefore,  O  most  mighty  Father, 
give  the  King  thy  judgment !  Let  him  be  my  judge,  who 
for  me  was  judged."  Though  he  comforts  thus,  the 
preacher  does  not  fail  to  warn  against  false  confidence, 
saying :  "  But  although  I  would  say  these  things,  let  no 
one,  my  brethren,  let  no  one  deceive  himself,  let  no 
one  sleep,  let  no  one  become  hardened  in  sin,  in  hope  of 
forgiveness ;  for  cursed  is  he  who  sins  in  hope." 

In  truth,  Villanova  was  a  preacher  of  decided  merits. 
The  published  sermons,  while  they  do  not  justify  extrava- 
gant praise,  do  exhibit  the  essential  qualities  of  good 
preaching — they  show  a  warm  and  pious  heart,  a  good 
head  for  reasoning,  good  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures, 
usually  a  clear  analysis,  an  elevated  and  at  the  same  time 
intelligible  and  impressive  style.  A  Protestant  cannot  sub- 
scribe to  his  doctrine,  and  will  find  other  things  to  demur 
to  in  many  expressions  and  turns  of  thought,  but  no  one 


552  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

who  reads  his  sermons  can  fail  to  feel  their  devout  spirit 
and  their  oratorical  power.  And  thus  with  him,  as  an  un- 
usually fit  example,  we  may  close  our  survey  of  the  Cath- 
olic preaching  and  preachers  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
PREACHING  AT  THE  THRESHOLD  OF  THE  MODERN  WORLD 

Our  studies  have  conducted  us  to  the  threshold  of  the 
modern  world.  The  sixteenth  century  is  the  beginning 
of  modernity,  as  the  fifteenth  was  the  end  of  mediaeval- 
ism.  Renaissance  and  Reformation  mark  the  death  of 
one,  the  birth  of  the  other.  Mental  and  spiritual  culture 
are  the  strong  forces  in  human  development,  and  these 
received  powerful  impulse  in  the  ages  named.  In  preach- 
ing, as  our  studies  have  shown  us,  no  less  than  in  other 
important  departments  of  this  mental  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture, the  forces  which  wrought  great  changes  came  to  a 
head  in  this  time,  more  especially  in  the  early  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  So  this  is  a  good  place  to  pause  in 
considering  the  history  of  preaching  and  look  backwards 
and  forwards.  A  summary  of  the  progress  made  may 
clear  our  vision  of  the  past  from  the  maze  of  detail  into 
which  we  have  necessarily  been  plunged,  and  prepare  us 
better  to  take  also  a  general  forward  look  into  the  three 
centuries  after  the  sixteenth — a  more  detailed  study  of 
which  is  deferred  to  the  future. 

i.     RETROSPECT 

As  we  look  back  over  the  long  and  varied  way  by 
which  we  have  traveled  and  try  to  sketch  in  salient  out- 
line the  main  features  of  the  scenes  through  which  we 
have  just  passed,  what  do  we  see? 

Preaching  is  distinctively  a  Christian  institution,  and 
yet  is  founded  on  certain  fundamental  things  in  human 
character  and  history.  As  one  of  the  most  widely  em- 
ployed and  useful  forms  of  public  speech  it  has  held  for 
all  the  Christian  ages  an  assured  place  among  the  institu- 
tions of  human  society.  Thus,  on  rational  principles,  it 
establishes  a  claim  for  fair  and  thorough  scientific  study 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         553 

and  treatment.  Thus,  too,  on  the  historical  side,  it  has 
availed  itself  in  its  forms  and  technical  principles  of  all 
the  developments  in  the  art  of  oratory,  and  has  con- 
tributed no  mean  share  of  example  and  instruction  to 
that  department  of  literature.  But  it  is,  of  course,  as  a 
vital  element  of  the  Christian  religion  that  preaching 
finds  its  highest  historic  value  and  interest.  It  derives 
its  warrant  from  the  divine  Founder  himself.  Its  his- 
toric origins  are  traceable  to  the  prophets  and  scribes 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  the  teaching  and  example 
of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles.  Its  burden  and  message  are 
the  good  news  of  salvation  by  Christ.  From  its  origin 
preaching  has  a  two-fold  character — proclamation  and 
teaching.  It  proclaims  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  men  with 
a  view  to  their  acceptance  of  him  as  their  Saviour  and 
Lord ;  and  it  teaches  to  those  who  have  so  accepted  him 
the  lofty  morality  and  the  inspiring  hopes  and  consolations 
which  that  gospel  includes.  It  brings  to  men's  minds 
the  truth  of  God,  to  their  wills  his  law,  to  their  hearts  his 
love.  In  the  very  beginning,  and  ever  as  time  goes  on, 
these  two  elements  of  proclamation  and  instruction  are 
variously  combined  in  the  Christian  sermon,  which  as  a 
part  of  the  congregational  worship  is  occupied  with  the 
explanation  and  enforcement  of  the  mind  and  will  of  God 
as  revealed  in  Holy  Scripture.  From  this  origin  the  his- 
tory of  preaching  proceeds  through  the  centuries. 

The  accounts  and  remains  of  preaching  in  the  times  im- 
mediately following  the  Apostles  are  very  meagre,  but 
we  know  that  there  was  preaching  of  both  the  evangelistic 
and  didactic  sort.  As  those  who  could  bear  oral  witness 
to  the  main  facts  of  the  gospel  history  passed  away,  and 
the  authoritative  teachers  appointed  directly  by  the  Mas- 
ter himself  died  off,  the  exposition  of  the  written  Word 
became  more  and  more  the  essence  of  preaching  as  a  part 
of  Christian  worship.  With  the  spread  of  the  gospel  and 
the  rapid  acquisition  of  converts,  both  by  personal  exer- 
tions and  more  public  discourses,  the  assemblies  for  wor- 
ship and  hearing  became  larger  and  more  varied  in  char- 
acter; and  thus  the  combination  of  proclamation  and 
teaching  becomes  the  fixed  character  of  Christian  preach- 
ing, the  two  elements  being  varied  according  to  circum- 
stances. Naturally,  in  the  assemblies  the  expository  ele- 


554  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

ment  predominates,  and  we  have  for  centuries,  and,  in 
fact,  nevermore  wholly  abandoned,  the  homily,  or  ex- 
planatory and  hortatory  talk,  as  the  prevailing  type  of 
sermon.  All  subsequent  modifications  grew  from  this 
germ.  The  persecutions,  which  checked  large  public  as- 
semblies of  Christians,  naturally  had  the  effect  of  empha- 
sizing this  kind  of  preaching.  But  somewhat  by  the 
Apologists,  and  more  effectively  by  Origen,  and  with  the 
intention  to  put  honor  upon  the  sacred  Word,  the  alle- 
gorical method  of  interpreting  Scripture  was  employed 
in  the  homilies,  and  vitiated  preaching  for  ages  to  come. 
With  the  cessation  of  the  imperial  persecutions  and  the 
protection  of  Christianity  as  the  religion  of  the  empire 
under  Constantine,  a  new  era  for  preaching,  as  for  all 
Christian  interests,  begins.  All  the  lines  of  development 
receive  freer  opportunity  for  extension,  and  there  is  espe- 
cial emphasis  upon  the  oratorical  element  because  of  two 
things :  one  is  the  change  in  the  character  of  the  congre- 
gations to  large  public  assemblies ;  the  other  is  the  better 
opportunity  offered  to  preachers  for  being  trained  in  the 
culture  of  the  age,  a  culture  chiefly  rhetorical.  The 
preacher  may  now  add  to  his  duty  of  expounding  God's 
Word  in  Christian  assemblies  the  larger  office  of  being  a 
censor  of  public  morals  and  the  orator  before  a  multi- 
tude. These  functions — inherent  in  the  ancient  prophecy 
— have  never  been  lost  to  the  pulpit,  though  sometimes 
neglected  and  sometimes  abused.  This  line  of  develop- 
ment reached  its  acme  in  Chrysostom,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, whose  unrivalled  homilies  were  also  often  eloquent 
orations  and  noble  pleas  for  truth  and  good  morals.  The 
theological  and  philosophical  element  of  preaching,  be- 
gun long  before  in  the  Apologists,  found  among  the 
Greeks  an  able  exponent  in  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  among 
the  Latins  in  the  incomparable  Augustine,  whose  various 
and  numerous  writings  contain  many  homilies  full  of 
thought  and  spiritual  power.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
patristic  period,  after  the  times  of  these  great  men, 
preaching  suffered  decay.  This  was  partly  natural  re- 
action, but  was  terribly  assisted  by  the  tottering  and  fall 
of  the  Western  empire,  and  the  serious  and  incurable  en- 
feeblement  of  the  Eastern. 
The  upheaval  of  Europe  and  the  overthrow  of  the  old 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         555 

Roman  civilization  under  the  Teutonic  barbarians  in  the 
early  part  of  the  Dark  Ages  were  serious  hindrances, 
along  with  inner  decline,  to  the  continuance  of  preaching, 
much  more  to  its  further  development.  But,  in  a  way,  it 
persisted  through  all  the  chaos  and  confusion  of  the 
times ;  and  there  were  preachers  who  held  it  to  the  previ- 
ous forms  without  adding  anything  of  value  to  them. 
Monasticism  encouraged  the  mild  contemplative  life,  and 
here  and  there  a  Bede  gathered  his  pupils  about  him  and, 
after  the  manner  of  Origen,  gently  expounded  to  them 
the  Word  of  God.  Here  and  there  devoted  missionaries 
like  Patrick,  Gall,  Boniface,  went  among  the  heathen  or 
half-heathen,  and  preached  and  taught  them  the  gospel 
as  they  received  it.  Here  and  there  a  prelate  like  Eligius 
of  Noyon  added  to  episcopal  duties  the  preaching  of  the 
Word,  and  encouraged  by  example  and  teaching  the 
preservation  of  this  vital  part  of  Christian  work.  Charle- 
magne, enlightened  ruler  and  far-seeing  statesman,  was 
distressed  at  the  decay  of  preaching  and  passed  rules  for 
improving  both  its  frequency  and  its  quality.  But  these 
reforms  from  the  outside  had  no  great  effect,  and  with 
the  failure  of  Charlemagne's  empire  after  his  death,  the 
temporary  improvements  in  the  clergy  and  preaching  like- 
wise fell  away.  The  darkness  thickens  till  once  more  a 
new  period  dawns. 

In  the  eleventh  century  two  powerful  influences  upon 
the  history  of  preaching  come  into  play.  One  was  the 
rise  of  the  scholastic  theology,  with  Lanfranc  and  Anselm, 
and  the  other,  near  the  end  of  the  century,  was  the  procla- 
mation of  the  first  crusade  by  Pope  Urban  II.  and  Peter 
the  Hermit.  The  first  came  from  within  and  gave  to 
preaching  for  three  or  four  centuries  its  characteristic 
method  on  the  technical  side,  that  is,  minute  analy- 
sis, subtle  speculative  reasoning  on  the  basis  of  ac- 
cepted and  authoritative  church  doctrines.  Permanent 
influence  was  exerted  on  preaching  in  the  way  of  ar- 
rangement and  form,  a  method  which  went  to  ex- 
tremes, but  has  left  abiding  traces  for  good  in  insist- 
ing on  clear  structure  and  logical  reasoning  in 
sermons.  The  other  influence  came  from  without,  in 
the  call  of  the  crusades,  but  was  no  less  effective 
in  a  different  way.  Urban's  stirring  addresses  to  the 


556  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

assembled  nobles  at  Clermont,  and  Peter's  vehement  ap- 
peals to  the  multitudes,  revealed  once  more  the  power 
of  human  speech  to  rouse  men  to  action,  and  gave  a 
much-needed  impulse  to  popular  preaching.  This,  too, 
produced  important  results,  and  left  permanent  influence 
both  for  good  and  ill.  Later  the  mystical  impulse  from 
the  monastic  and  contemplative  side  brought  its  less  im- 
pressive and  less  extensive  influence  to  these,  and  added, 
in  the  general  preaching  of  the  age,  that  spiritual  and 
thoughtful  tone  which  was  needed  to  complete,  if  not 
counteract,  the  other  two.  All  these  elements  of  preach- 
ing were  represented  in  Bernard,  the  greatest  preacher 
of  the  twelfth  century.  Early  in  the  thirteenth  century 
the  two  missionary  preaching  orders  of  St.  Dominic  and 
St.  Francis  were  started,  and  gave  a  powerful  emphasis 
to  popular  preaching.  Members  of  these  orders  went  all 
over  Europe,  and  even  into  foreign  lands,  preaching  with 
an  enthusiasm  and  effect  unknown  for  ages,  and  were 
heard  by  gathered  thousands  of  people.  Nor  did  these 
orders  neglect  the  scholastic  and  mystical  trends  of 
thought,  as  Aquinas,  the  Dominican,  and  Bonaventura, 
the  Franciscan,  show.  Mediaeval  preaching  reaches  in 
the  thirteenth  century  its  highest  point  of  excellence  and 
power,  but  it  is  still  marred  by  the  allegorical  interpreta- 
tion and  by  the  doctrinal  perversions  and  superstitions  of 
the  past  ages,  by  the  over-employment  of  saints'  legends 
and  other  unscriptural  material,  and  by  other  faults. 
Decline  is  already  apparent  toward  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury, and  of  the  three  trends  of  thought  the  mystical 
flourishes  longest,  finding  its  best  expression  in  the  four- 
teenth century  in  the  work  of  that  saintly  man  and  admir- 
able preacher,  John  Tauler.  But  with  him  this  age  closes. 
Action  and  reaction,  revival  and  decline,  this  is  history. 
The  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  were  evil  indeed 
for  preaching.  Every  force — scholastic,  popular,  mystic 
— that  had  contributed  to  the  great  forward  movement 
of  the  preceding  age  fell  into  degeneracy,  extremes, 
abuses.  Pedantry  and  subtlety  without  power,  popular 
appeals  that  sunk  to  the  burlesque,  pale  and  feeble 
ghosts  of  former  giants,  occupied  the  scene.  And  along 
with  this  mental  decline  there  was  a  moral  laxity  in  the 
clergy  that  is  appalling.  How  could  preaching  survive 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,  OR   REFORMATORY,  AGE         557 

this  famine  and  ever  flourish  again?  All  was  not  hope- 
less. The  gathering  forces  of  reform,  feeble  and  few  at 
first,  came  to  be  a  mighty  army,  and  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  effected  the  greatest  religious  revolution  of  his- 
tory, and  gave  to  preaching  a  significance  and  power  in 
the  world  such  as  it  had  had  in  the  fourth  and  in  the 
thirteenth  centuries,  and  in  many  important  respects  far 
better  and  greater  than  in  those  two  culminations.  The 
very  year  that  John  Tauler  died,  a  young  man  in  England 
is  ordained  a  priest.  John  Wiclif  begins  his  work.  The 
preaching  of  the  Bible  is  the  main  thing  in  his  work, 
personally  and  by  others.  He  comes  to  see  that  many 
things  taught  by  the  dominant  church  for  truth  have  no 
warrant  in  Scripture,  and  his  eyes  do  not  mislead  him  as 
to  the  fearful  moral  corruption  in  the  clergy.  He  has  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  and  powerfully  speaks  his 
mind.  The  seeds  of  his  planting  will  blossom  into  flower 
and  fruit  at  a  later  day.  Meantime,  over  in  the  heart  of 
Europe,  John  Huss  of  Bohemia  gets  hold  of  Wiclif's 
teachings  and  they  get  hold  of  him,  and  through  him  of 
others.  Constance  and  the  stake  are  his  reward;  but 
truth  cannot  be  burnt.  Other  voices  here  and  there  are 
heard,  until  after  the  middle  of  the  century  at  Florence  a 
Dominican  monk  makes  Italy  and  Europe  listen  while,  in 
flaming  eloquence,  he  tells  of  the  corruption  and  speedy 
punishment  of  the  church.  Savonarola  goes  the  way  of 
Huss,  but  he,  too,  is  not  forgotten.  Scarcely  twenty 
years  after  his  martyrdom  a  young  Augustinian  monk 
and  professor  at  Wittenberg,  in  Saxon  Germany,  startles 
the  world  by  a  bold  attack  upon  papal  indulgences  and 
other  abuses.  One  step  leads  to  another.  A  chord  of 
slumbering  sympathy  is  touched  by  a  skilful  and  mighty 
hand,  and  it  is  vibrating  still.  How  quickly  they  come  to 
the  fore,  those  mighty  men  and  preachers — Luther, 
Zwingli,  Calvin,  Latimer,  Knox,  and  their  fellow-work- 
ers and  followers.  And  preaching  that  seemed  dead  is 
now  among  the  livest  forces  in  the  world.  Protestantism 
is  born,  and  a  new  era  for  religion  and  preaching  is  begun. 
Age-long  faults  and  abuses  in  substance  and  method  are 
corrected.  Preaching  resumes  its  rightful  place  in  Chris- 
tian worship,  it  eschews  the  scholastic  extremes  while  re- 
taining the  benefits  of  the  scholastic  method ;  it  effects  for 


558  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

itself  a  wonderful  deliverance  from  the  abuses  of  a  false 
and  overstrained  mode  of  Scripture  interpretation ;  it  de- 
sires to  bring  home  to  the  people  of  every  grade  the -Word 
of  God  as  being,  in  its  rightly  understood  teachings,  the 
sole  and  sufficient  guide  in  religious  concerns ;  and,  above 
all,  against  all  perversions  and  additions  it  proclaims 
anew,  and  with  a  power  and  clearness  not  heard  of  since 
the  Apostles  themselves,  the  simple  gospel  of  salvation  by 
grace  through  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  With  this 
restored  method  and  message  preaching  stands  at  the 
threshold  of  the  modern  world. 

2.    PROSPECT 

The  three  and  a  half  centuries  from  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  to  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  constitute  the 
modern  period  in  the  history  of  preaching.  As  we  know, 
it  has  been  a  rich  and  powerful  epoch  in  the  general  his- 
tory of  mankind.  Preaching  has  been  no  small  force  in 
the  world  during  this  time,  and,  as  we  have  just  seen,  it 
stood  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  revived  and  newly 
equipped  for  the  important  services  which  it  was  to  ren- 
der in  this  last  and  greatest  epoch  in  human  history.  Tak- 
ing our  stand  back  at  the  beginning  of  this  modern 
period,  we  may  look  forward  to  the  task  of  preaching  in 
that  coming  age,  and  consider  both  its  developing  equip- 
ment for  its  task,  and  the  problems  with  which  it  will 
have  to  deal. 

It  will  not  surprise  us  to  find  that,  like  every  other  sin- 
gle force  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  preaching  will 
sympathize  with  the  sum  of  others  at  each  successive 
stage  in  its  development ;  that  is,  it  will  at  every  epoch  be 
in  touch  with  the  times.  But  it  will  unite  to  the  influence 
of  environment  the  momentum  of  its  past,  the  estab- 
lished principles  of  its  working  methods.  In  fact,  this 
union  of  tradition  and  adaptation  assures  its  readiness 
for  work  in  every  age.  Nor  should  the  reflection  escape 
us  that  a  wise  balance  in  these  forces  is  the  best  equip- 
ment. Excess  of  deference  to  tradition  makes  the  pulpit 
stiff,  dull,  ineffective;  excess  of  deference  to  environ- 
ment makes  it  opportunist,  superficial,  without  lasting 
fruit.  With  these  general  remarks,  let  us  more  particu- 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,    OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE          55Q 

larly  notice  some  of  the  elements  of  power  which  Chris- 
tian preaching  will  employ  in  the  age  which  lies  before  it 
at  the  close  of  the  reformatory  period. 

The  two  great  principles  established,  or  newly  em- 
phasized, by  the  Reformation  are  the  most  weighty  com- 
ponents of  the  pulpit's  new  equipment  for  service  in  the 
modern  age ;  the  sole  authority  of  Scripture  as  a  revela- 
tion from  God,  and  justification  by  faith  in  Christ  alone 
as  Saviour  from  sin.  The  great  body  of  modern  preach- 
ing— with  due  discount  for  exceptions  of  all  sorts — will 
be  thoroughly  pervaded  by  these  two  dominant  thoughts. 
Where  they  are  accepted  and  honored  preaching  will  be 
strong  and  fruitful,  where  they  are  discredited  preaching, 
however  brilliant  as  oratory,  will  be  meagre  of  perma- 
nent spiritual  results.  Preaching  emerges  from  the  Re- 
formation armed  with  this  double-edged  sword,  and  by 
this  sign  it  will  conquer. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  modern  preaching  will  be  its 
variety.  As  a  result  of  the  revolt  from  Rome,  and  the 
assertion  of  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  the  interpre- 
tation and  application  of  Scripture,  there  will  follow  a 
great  variety  of  churches  and  preachers.  There  will  now 
no  longer  be  one  only  church  opposed  here  and  there  by 
more  or  less  feeble  sects  or  audacious  leaders ;  there  will 
now  no  longer  be  one  authoritatively  declared  body  of 
doctrine  to  which  all  must  subscribe,  whether  they  be- 
lieve it  or  not,  on  pain  of  anathema  and  the  stake.  But 
there  will  be  many  bodies  of  Christians  calling  them- 
selves churches,  and  many  standards  or  confessions  of 
faith  professing  to  be  derived  from  the  sole  authority  of 
the  Word  of  God.  The  different  Protestant  bodies  in 
their  sum  will  constitute  a  formidable  denial  to  Rome's 
arrogated  supremacy,  and  in  their  diversities  a  remark- 
able contrast  to  its  apparent  unity.  These  "  variations  of 
Protestantism  "  will  be  one  of  the  stock  Catholic  argu- 
ments against  it,  but  the  freedom  and  variety  thus  ex- 
pressed and  maintained  will  prove  of  more  value  to  true 
religious  life  and  progress  than  unreal,  because  enforced, 
uniformity  and  tame  monotony  could  be.  In  the  pulpit 
this  manifold  variety  is  to  show  itself  in  methods,  aims 
and  effects,  as  well  as  in  the  persons  and  offices  of  the 
preachers.  The  celibate  and  the  monk  will  no  longer 


560  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

appear  the  highest  type.  The  man  among  men — the  pious 
husband  and  father,  the  exemplary  citizen,  the  respected 
member  of  society,  as  well  as  the  teacher  of  divine  truth 
and  moral  guide  of  the  community — will  henceforth  be 
the  best  kind  of  preacher.  His  personality  will  become 
relatively  more  important,  and  his  character  will  count 
for  more  than  in  former  times.  This  new  age  is  going 
to  be  one  of  infinite  variety  and  many  changes,  and  will 
need  a  flexible  and  widely  varied  ministry  to  meet  its 
wants. 

The  sketches  we  have  had  of  the  leading  reformers 
show  us  that  for  the  most  part  they  were  men  of  great 
force  of  character  and  intellect.  They  took  hold  of  the 
work  and  the  problems  of  their  time  with  a  vigor  that 
commands  respect.  Their  labors,  their  success,  their  ex- 
ample, their  principles,  require  strong  men  to  follow  them. 
Though  there  will  naturally  be  some  falling  off  in  the 
immediate  successors  of  the  reformers,  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel  in  modern  times  will  on  the  whole  be  distin- 
guished for  vigor  of  mind,  strength  of  character,  and 
general  ability  to  deal  intelligently  and  firmly  with  the 
problems  of  the  modern  pulpit. 

The  requirements  of  the  new  age,  and  the  brilliant  ex- 
ample of  the  leading  preachers,  alike  will  work  to  erect 
a  high  standard  of  ministerial  character  and  culture. 
One  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  reformer's  attack  was 
the  corrupt,  lazy  and  ignorant  clergy.  And  this  very 
thing  forced  the  reformers  to  raise  and  maintain  a  higher 
standard  of  clerical  conduct  and  ability.  Both  morals  and 
culture  were  to  be  elevated,  and  they  were  elevated.  The 
general  standard  of  spiritual  and  intellectual  culture  in  the 
ministry  was  more  improved  by  the  Reformation  than  by 
all  the  capitularies  of  Charlemagne  or  canons  of  reforming 
councils.  This  does  not  say  that  many  bad  and  ignorant 
men  will  not  be  found,  alas !  among  the  preachers  of  all 
sects,  but  it  does  mean  that  in  this  modern  period  upon 
the  whole  the  standard  of  ministerial  character  and  cul- 
ture will  be  higher  than  ever  before. 

The  combination  of  things  which  have  been  spoken  of 
will  tend  to  increase  the  hold  of  the  ministry  upon  the 
people.  It  is  inevitable  that  the  people  shall  begin  to 
take  more  interest  in  preaching  when  the  preachers  are 


THE   TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         561 

men  whose  character  and  learning  compel  respect,  and 
when  their  message  comes  more  clearly  as  the  voice  of 
God  through  his  authorized  spokesman,  who  deals 
directly  with  his  Word  and  unfolds  its  meaning.  The 
attendance  upon  preaching  will  increase  again,  and  its 
effect  in  guiding  men  to  the  higher  things  of  religion  and 
morality  will  be  more  decided  and  marked.  It  is  then 
with  such  an  outfit  as  has  been  suggested  rather  than 
described,  that  the  pulpit  of  the  modern  world  faces  the 
problems  that  are  to  rise  before  it.  What  are  they  ? 

Along  with  all  other  human  interests  preaching  will 
suffer  from  the  storms  of  war.  Tried  and  tested  in  that 
stern  school  it  will  have  power  to  meet  other  difficulties. 
Civil  war  in  France,  thirty  years  of  desolation  in  Ger- 
many, civil  war  and  revolution  in  England,  the  eighteenth 
century  wars  in  Europe,  revolution  in  America  and 
France,  the  Napoleonic  struggle,  and  all  the  nineteenth 
century  wars — all  these  to  live  through !  How  the  pulpit 
will  adjust  itself  to  these  strifes,  and  preach  the  gospel 
of  peace  amid  the  rude  alarms  of  war  is  one  of  its  heavy 
problems ;  but  it  will  find  a  way.  Sometimes  the  preacher 
will  be  with  the  armies  in  the  field,  in  camp  and  hospital 
holding  up  the  Prince  of  Peace  above  the  noise  and  chaos 
of  strife;  sometimes  at  home  amid  the  anxious  and  be- 
reaved he  will  be  giving  the  consolations  of  grace  and 
keeping  men's  eyes  on  the  heavenly  rest  while  the  earth 
is  racked  with  contention. 

Naturally  the  exigencies  of  the  Reformation  quickened 
the  spirit  of  debate  and  polemic  as  to  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity.  Henceforth  the  pulpit  will  be  largely  con- 
cerned with  this  feature  of  the  religious  life.  Nor  will 
it  be  a  pleasing  or  edifying  part  of  pulpit  work,  though 
often  an  unavoidable  one.  Much  ability,  some  remains 
of  scholastic  sophistry,  and  too  often  a  rancorous  and 
unchristian  spirit  will  mark  the  sermons  of  this  kind. 
Alas !  one  of  the  hardest  lessons  for  the  Christian  pulpit 
to  learn  will  be  that  of  "  speaking  the  truth  in  love." 

One  of  the  side  results  of  the  Reformation  was  the 
liberty  of  thought  which  it  encouraged  in  religious  affairs. 
The  reformers,  however,  were  not  quick  to  accept  the 
logical  consequences  of  their  principles.  Many  of  them, 
perhaps  most,  were  intolerant  of  differences  from  them- 


562  A    HISTORY   OF    PREACHING 

selves,  and  Protestant  persecutions  are  an  illogical  dis- 
grace upon  the  cause.  But  the  liberty  which  their  prin- 
ciples demanded  inevitably  had  its  perils — within  the 
churches  it  will  lead  to  rationalism — outside  it  will  en- 
courage infidelity.  Or  rather  let  us  say  that  among  some 
professing  Christians  freedom  of  speculation  and  crit- 
icism will  go  too  far,  even  to  virtual  denial  of  the  super- 
natural origin  and  exclusive  authority  of  Scripture ;  and 
that  unbelieving  opposition  to  the  Christian  revelation 
will  too  often  pervert  liberty  into  license,  and  assume  a 
tone  of  arrogant  and  often  insolent  confidence  unjustifi- 
able alike  by  fact  or  sentiment.  All  this,  preaching  will 
have  to  meet,  and  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  skepti- 
cism mentioned  will  call  to  its  aid  the  grand  achieve- 
ments in  scientific  investigation  and  boldly  assail  the  fun- 
damental verities  of  Christianity,  in  the  name  of  the 
highest  thinking  and  most  assured  knowledge  of  mankind. 
Truly  for  such  a  conflict  the  pulpit  will  need  the  best  out- 
fit possible  and  all  its  best  strength  of  development.  Here 
was  lurking  a  giant  whom  the  reforming  fathers  could 
not  foresee,  but  none  the  less  in  asserting  the  principles 
they  did,  and  holding  up  the  standard  they  did  for  the 
ministry,  they  were  making  the  best  possible  preparation 
for  the  coming  conflict.  The  preaching,  however,  of 
these  coming  ages  is  going  to  show  upon  the  whole  an 
ability  to  grasp  and  handle  the  problem  of  rationalism 
and  infidelity  that  its  opponents  and  critics  may  not  will- 
ingly admit,  but  which  history  will  own. 

The  growth  and  wonderful  developments  in  the  litera- 
tures of  the  modern  Christian  nations  will  present  a  prob- 
lem of  adjustment  and  mutual  service  or  hindrance  to 
the  pulpit.  In  some  respects  there  will  be  rivalry,  in 
others  stimulus  and  wholesome  interaction.  Where  doc- 
trine and  morals  are  concerned  there  will  sometimes  be 
sharp  conflict,  but  on  the  whole  preaching  and  literature 
will  be  most  friendly.  The  pulpit  will  not  be  overshad- 
owed and  displaced,  but  it  will  be  closely  rivalled  and 
often  fatigued  and  discredited  by  other  means  of  public 
instruction.  Secularism  in  press  and  school  will  by  their 
very  rivalry  demand  the  continuance  and  strengthening 
of  the  pulpit.  Its  relative  range  will  be  narrowed,  but  in 
that  very  fact  its  energies  concentrated,  and  concentrated 


THE  TRANSITIONAL,   OR   REFORMATORY,   AGE         563 

not  in  vain,  upon  its  own  proper  duties.  The  world  has 
never  yet  heard  such  preaching  as  it  will  hear  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  For,  notwithstanding  the  newspaper  and 
the  book,  the  pulpit  will  still  remain  in  modern  times  the 
chief  instructor  of  men  in  morals  and  religious  truth. 

Progress  of  thought  and  freedom  will,  in  these  three 
modern  centuries,  bring  with  them  increasing  recognition 
of  the  common  man  in  civil  and  social  life.  The  Christian 
pulpit  from  our  Lord's  own  days  till  now  has  ever  been 
one  of  the  foremost  champions  of  the  rights  of  the  in- 
dividual man,  whether  high  or  low.  Of  course  there 
have  been  exceptions,  and  many  here  and  there  among 
the  preachers  have  been  found  untrue  to  this  high  ideal, 
but  upon  the  whole  the  history  of  preaching  shows  the 
general  truth  to  be  as  stated ;  and  as  the  pulpit  of  the  Re- 
formation faces  its  future  it  looks  to  a  coming  glorious 
record  in  its  advocacy  of  human  rights,  its  rebuke  of  op- 
pressive wrong,  its  encouragement  of  social  ameliorations. 

Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  Protestant  America 
will  be  born — a  feeble  infant  truly,  yet  bravely  grasping 
its  mighty  future  with  two  weak  baby  hands  at  James- 
town and  Plymouth  Rock.  Here  in  the  dependent  col- 
onial days  American  preaching  will  mostly  follow  in  form 
and  method  the  traditions  of  the  old  world;  but  under 
the  strong  impetus  of  the  Great  Awakening  it  will  begin 
to  strike  out  its  own  way  and  be  getting  ready  for  its 
mighty  work  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Here  the  firm 
establishment  of  the  voluntary  principle  in  the  choice  and 
maintenance  of  pastors,  combined  with  complete  religious 
liberty,  will  give  to  preaching  such  opportunities  as  it 
never  had  before  to  develop  adaptability,  variety  and 
strength.  And  right  nobly  it  will  take  its  work. 

Better  than  in  the  Middle  Ages  with  Francis  and 
Dominic,  better  than  at  the  Reformation  with  the  re- 
formers absorbed  in  pressing  matters  at  hand,  the  modern 
Christianity  will  take  hold  of  the  problem  of  world-wide 
evangelization — and  the  pulpit  will  not  be  found  wanting. 
Pious  Francke  at  Halle  will  preach  missions  as  well  as 
charity,  obscure  but  devoted  Carey  at  Northampton  will 
tell  his  hesitating  brethren  to  attempt  great  things  for 
God  and  expect  great  things  from  God,  a  few  theological 
students  will  hold  a  prayer-meeting  at  a  haystack  in 


564  A   HISTORY   OF   PREACHING 

Massachusetts,  and  the  great  foreign  missionary  move- 
ment of  modern  times  will  be  on.  Preachers  at  home 
will  emphasize  the  Master's  "  marching  orders,"  and 
preachers  abroad  in  all  lands  of  the  earth  will  revive  the 
primitive  methods  of  preaching  Christ,  not  on  other  men's 
foundations  but  among  the  heathen  who  never  heard  the 
gospel  of  God's  grace.  Thus,  true  to  its  double  mission  of 
proclamation  and  instruction,  the  modern  preaching  will 
delight  to  recall  the  Founder's  words :  "  Ye  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea, 
and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth ; "  nor  will  it  faint  before  its  sublime  task  as  out- 
lined by  its  greatest  representative  among  the  Apostles: 
"  And  he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,  and 
some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of , the  faith  and  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man, 
unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  author  does  not  attempt  the  impossible  task  of  giving  an 
exhaustive  survey  of  the  vast  literature  which  more  or  less 
directly  bears  on  the  great  subject  treated  in  this  volume;  nor 
even  to  mention  all  the  books  which  have  come  in  various  ways 
under  his  notice,  or  have  contributed  to  his  knowledge.  Only 
those,  and  not  all  of  them,  which  have  been  actually  used  or 
found  specially  helpful  in  the  preparation  of  the  work  are  given. 
Many  works  of  general  and  church  history  which  have  been  con- 
sulted are  necessarily  omitted.  The  enumeration  under  II.  is 
more  nearly  complete  than  under  the  other  heads.  It  is  hoped 
the  classification  and  enumeration  of  the  following  works  may 
be  found  of  some  service  to  any  who  may  wish  to  pursue  the 
subject  further. 

I.  WORKS  OF  A  GENERAL  NATURE 

1.  HISTORY,     (a)  General.    Histories  of  the  various  countries 
involved.     Gibbon's   Decline  and   Fall   of  the   Roman   Empire; 
Puruy's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  Bryce's  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire;   Weber's    Weltgeschichte ;    Lecky's    History    of    European 
Morals ;    Seignobos,    Histoire   de   la   Civilisation ;    Langlois   and 
Seignobos,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  History  (translation). 

(b)  Ecclesiastical.     Eusebius,    Ecclesiastical    History;    Schaff, 
History    of    the    Christian    Church ;    Hase,    Kirchengeschichte  ; 
Fisher,  History  of  the  Christian   Church;   Kurtz,  Church   His- 
tory;  Newman,  Manual  of  Church  History;   others  of  similar 
character.     Of  special  works  a  few,  such  as  a  number  of  his- 
tories of  the  Reformation,  and  more  particularly:  Baird,  Rise  of 
the  Huguenots;   Cutts,  Parish   Priests  and  their  People  in  the 
Middle  Ages  in  England;  Beckett,  History  of  the  English  Ref- 
ormation; Montalembert,  Monks  of  the  West;  Stoughton,  Span- 
ish Reformers;  and  other  similar  works. 

(c)  Literary  and  Philosophical.    Cruttwell,  Literary  History  of 
Christianity;     Tiraboschi,     Storia     della     Letteratura     Italiana; 
Scherer,    Geschichte    der    Deutschen    Litteratur;    Histoire    Lit- 
teraire  de  la   France    (Daunou,   Haureau  and  others)  ;   several 
histories  of  English  literature.     Ueberweg,   History  of  Philos- 
ophy; Weber,  History  of  Philosophy;  Vaughan,  Hours  with  the 
Mystics;   Preger,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Mystik  im  Mittel- 
alter.    Sears,  History  of  Oratory. 

2.  CYCLOPEDIAS,     (a)  General.     The  Britannica ;  the  American ; 
Ersch  und  Gruber,  Allgemeine  Encyclopadie ;  Cyclopedia  Italiana ; 
and  others. 

(b)  Biographical.    Dictionary  of  National  Biography;   Allge- 
meine Deutsche  Biographic;  Biographic  Universelle ;  and  several 
others. 

(c)  Ecclesiastical.    Herzog-Plitt-Hauck,  Real  Encyclopadie  fur 
Protestantische  Theologie  und  Kirche;  Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirch- 
enlexikon. 


566  A   HISTORY  OF   PREACHING 

3.  COLLECTIONS.  Acta  Sanctorum;  Migne,  Patrologia  Graeca 
and  Patrologia  Latina ;  the  Oxford  Library  of  the  Fathers ;  Dods' 
(T.  and  T.  Clark)  edition  of  the  writings  of  the  Fathers ;  Works 
of  Chrysostom,  Augustine  and  others  in  the  original  in  some 
editions ;  the  Christian  Literature  Series,  i.e.,  the  Apostolic  Fa- 
thers, the  Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  and  the  Nicene  and  Post-Nicene 
Fathers.  Texte  und  Untersuchungen,  Harnack  und  Gebhardt. 
Guillon,  Bibliotheque  des  Peres.  Brieger  und  Bess,  Zeitschrift 
der  Kirchengeschichte.  On  the  Swiss  Reformation  the  excellent 
Leben  und  Ausgewahlte  Schriften  der  Vater  und  Grunder  der 
Reformirten  Kirche.  Old  English  Homilies  of  the  Twelfth  Cen- 
tury, Publications  of  the  Early  English  Text  Society,  edited  by 
Robert  Morris,  LL.D.  The  Book  of  Homilies.  Collections  of 
Sermons  of  the  different  preachers  in  their  works.  Fish,  Mas- 
terpieces of  Pulpit  Eloquence ;  Volume  III.  of  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons'  The  World's  Great  Orators. 

II.  HISTORY  OF  PREACHING 

1.  GENERAL.    Works  which  in  a  way  deal  with  the  whole  sub- 
ject: Broadus,  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Preaching;  Ker,  Lec- 
tures on  the  History  of   Preaching;    Pattison,  The   History  of 
Christian  Preaching;  Fleming  James,  The  Message  and  the  Mes- 
sengers;  R.   Rothe,  Geschichte  der  Predigt.    Brief  biographical 
notices  with  specimens  of  preaching :   Lentz,   Christliche  Homi- 
letik;  Fish,  Masterpieces  of  Pulpit  Eloquence.     Sketches  of  the 
history:   Christlieb,  Geschichte  der   Predigt    (article   in   Herzog, 
Bd.  18,  supplement,  much  the  most  complete  treatment  yet  writ- 
ten) ;  Hering,  Geschichte  der  Predigt  (part  of  a  larger  work,  Die 
Lehre  von  der  Predigt)  ;  the  historical  sketch  in  Harnack's  Ge- 
schichte und  Theorie  der  Predigt ;  sketch  in  Van  Oosterzee's  Prac- 
tical Theology ;  also  in  Hoppin's  Homiletics ;  several  others  of 
similar  nature.     Character  sketches :  Bromel,  Homiletische  Cha- 
rakterbilder ;  Nebe,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Predigt. 

2.  EPOCHAL.     Paniel,  Pragmatische  Geschichte  der  Christjichen 
Beredsamkeit    (designed   as   a  complete   history,  but  as   it  only 
comes  down  to  Augustine  it  is  placed  here;  one  of  the  notable 
books  on  the  subject)  ;  Villemain,  Tableau  de  1'Eloquence  Chre- 
tienne  au   Quatrieme   Siecle;   Moule,   Christian   Oratory   during 
the  First  Five  Centuries ;  Neale,  Mediaeval  Preaching ;  Ammon, 
Geschichte   der    Homiletik;    Albert,    Geschichte   der    Predigt    in 
Deutschland  bis  Luther;  Cruel,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Pre- 
digt  im    Mittelalter;    Linsenmayer,    Geschichte    der    Predigt    in 
Deutschland  von  Karl  dem  Grossen  bis  zum  Anfang  des  isten 
Jahrhunderts ;  Beste,  Die  Bedeutendste  Kanzelredner  der  Luther- 
ischen  Kirche   der   Reformationszeitalters ;   C.   G.    Schmidt,   Ge- 
schichte der  Predigt  in  der  Eyangelischen  Kirche  Deutschlands 
V9p  Luther  bis  Spener ;  Bourgain,  La  Chaire  Franchise  au  Xllme 
Siecle;  Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  La  Chaire  Franchise  au  Moyen  Age 
Specialement    au    Xlllme    Siecle;    Renoux,    Les    Predicateurs 
Celebres  de  1'Allemagne;  Boucher,  L'Eloquence  de  la  Chaire,  ou 
1'Histoire  Litteraire  dela  Predication;  Meray,  Les  Libres  Predi- 
cateurs devanciers  de  Luther  et  de  Rabelais ;  Marenco,  L'Oratoria 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  567 

Sacra  Italiana  nel  Medio  Evo ;  Zanotto,  Storia  della  Predicazione 
nei  Secoli  della  Letteratura  Italiana;  F.  Borromeo,  De  Sacris 
Nostrorum  Temporum  Oratoribus ;  Blaikie,  The  Preachers  of 
Scotland  from  the  Sixth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century ;  W.  M.  Tay- 
lor, The  Scottish  Pulpit. 

III.  LIVES  AND  WORKS  OF  PREACHERS 

Much  about  individual  preachers  and  their  preaching  has  been 
gathered  from  the  works  previously  named,  and  so,  to  avoid 
repetition,  only  additional  works  are  here  mentioned. 

1.  PATRISTIC.     Works  of  the  Fathers  in  various  editions,  both 
the  originals  and  translations.     Life  and  Times  of  Chrysostom, 
by  W.  R.  W.  Stephens.     Sketches  of  some  of  the  more  notable 
preachers  by  Bishop  Carpenter,  in  the  Clergyman's  Magazine,  and 
afterwards  gathered   into   a  volume.     Sketches   of  Patrick   and 
other  missionaries  in  Walrond's   Christian  Missions  before  the 
Reformation. 

2.  MEDIEVAL.    Neander,  Der  Heilige  Bernhard  und  sein  Zeit- 
alter;    Storrs,    St.    Bernard;    Herkless,    Francis    and    Dominic; 
Lacordaire,  Vie  de  Saint  Dominique ;  Sabatier,  Life  of  St.  Fran- 
cis of  Assisi  (translation)  ;  Opera  SS.  Francisci  et  Antonii  (old 
edition  of  De  la  Haye)  ;   Fioretti   di    San   Francesco;   Locatelli 
(editor),  A  New  Life  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua   (translation), 
also  a  new  edition  of  the  Sermones  Dominicales  of  Antony  of 
Padua,  issuing  at  Padua ;  Vaughan,  Life  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas ; 
Drioux,   Opera    S.   Thomae;    Ashley,   Homilies   of    St.    Thomas 
Aquinas ;    Card.    Fanna,    Ratio    Novae   Collectionis    Operum    S. 
Bonaventurae ;   Gobel,  Die  Missionspredigten  des   Franziskaners 
Berthold  von  Regensburg;   Stromberger,  Berthold  von   Regens- 
burg;  Life  of  Wycliffe,  by  J.  L.  Wilson,  and  other  sources;  Select 
English  Writings  of  John  Wyclif,  edited  by  Thos.  Arnold,  Ox- 
ford, 1869  (the  best)  ;  Madden,  Life  and  Martyrdom  of  Savona- 
rola ;    Villari,    Life   and   Times    of   Savonarola ;    Mrs.    Oliphant, 
Makers  of  Florence;  Baccini,  Prediche  di  F.  Girolamo  Savona- 
rola. 

3.  REFORMATORY.    Kostlin,  Life  of  Luther  (the  original  in  two 
large  volumes,  the  translation  in  abridged  form),  Luther's  Werke, 
Hauspostillen,  Table  Talk  (Bohn  ed.),  Luther  and  Calvin  (ser- 
mons) ;   Stahelin,   Huldreich  Zwingli,   sein   Leben   und   Wirken; 
Zwingli's    Werke     (Schuler    und    Schultess) ;    Jackson,    Huld- 
reich Zwingli ;  Bullinger's  Decades ;  Cheneviere,  Farel,  Froment 
et  Viret;  Calvin,  Works  (some  in  Latin  and  French,  and  some 
in  English  in  various  editions),   Preface  to   Comm.   on   Psalms 
(Latin,  a  brief  account  of  his  life)  ;  Beza,  Vie  de  Calvin;  Bung- 
ener,  Jean  Calvin,  sa  Vie  son  CEuvre  et  ses  Ecrits ;   Benrath, 
Bernadino  Ochino  von  Siena   (translation  also)  ;   Sermons  and 
Remains  of  Bishop  Latimer,  Parker  Society's  edition  by  Corrie; 
Works   of  Archbishop   Cranmer ;    Sermons   of   John    Bradford ; 
Life  and  Writings  of  Ridley,  Religious  Tract  Society;  Works  of 
Bishop  Hooper ;  Works  of  Bishop  Jewel ;  Knox,  History  of  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland,  and  sermon   (the  only  one)   in  Fish's 
Masterpieces;  McCrie,  Life  of  Knox;  Brown,  Life  of  Knox. 


INDEX 


Abbey  of  St.  Victor,  216. 

Abelard,  207  f. 

Achelis,  56  n. 

J£\fric,  169  f. 

Ailred,  203. 

Albert,  F.  R.,  148  n.,  151  n.,  169, 

180  n.,  185  n.,  188,  190,  201  n., 

256  n. 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  426  f., 

462,  537- 
Albert   the    Great,    237!,    270, 

273- 

Aleth,  Mother  of  Bernard,  208. 

Alfred  the  Great,  128. 

Allegorical  Preaching,  51,  103, 
114,  118,  137,  143,  157,  172, 
190,  212,  230,  244,  265,  527, 

531- 

Allen,  A.  V.  G.,  24  n. 
Amalric  of  Bena,  270,  328. 
Ambrose,  8,  65  n.,  94,  (Sketch) 

98  «.,  112. 
Ammon,  Gesch.  der  Homiletik, 

317  n.,     318,     319  n.,     324  n., 

326  n.,  334  n.,  345  n. 
Amsdorf,  Nicholas  von,  399. 
Anabaptists,    406  f.,    424,    427, 

444, 466  ff. 

Anabaptist  Preaching,  468. 
Ancient  Homily,  37,  42,  44  f. 
Andrew  of  Crete,  139. 
Anselm,    10,     (Sketch)     171  f., 

177- 

Ansgar,  167. 
Ante-Nicene  Theologians,  42  f., 

47  f- 
Anthusa,   Mother   of   Chrysos- 

tom,  78,  86  f . 
Antony  of  Padua,  188,  229,  250, 

(Sketch)  252  ff. 
Apologists,  33,  42  f.,  45  f. 
Apostles,  Preaching  of,  23  ff. 
Apostolic  Fathers,  42  f. 


Arcadius,  Emperor,  62,  89. 
Aristotle,  16,  17. 
Armitage,  Thos.,  22  n. 
Arnold,  Thos.,  Ed.  of  Wiclif's 

Works,  339  n. 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  198. 
Assonance,  189,  201. 
Asterius,  74  f. 
Athanasius,  72. 
Aubert,  148. 
Audiences,   39,   68,   192,   228  f., 

307  f. 
Augustine,   8,    10,    65  n.,    93  f., 

(Sketch)  100  ff.,  (DeCivitate 

Dei)  105,  112,  187. 
Austria  -  Hungary,    Reform 

Preachers  in,  460  f . 
Aquila,  Caspar,  396. 
Aquinas,    Thos.,    10,    (Sketch) 

238  ff.,  270,  273. 

Backer,  John  of,  464. 

Baird,  H.  M.,  450. 

Barbarian  Invasions,  Effect  on 

Preaching,  112. 
Barletta,  Gabriel,  302,  303,  313, 

(Sketch)  323! 
Basil,     the     Great,     65  n.,     77, 

(Sketch)  78  ff.,  112. 
Basil  of  Seleucia,  117. 
Baum,  W.,  Life  of  Capita, 

425  n. 

Beaton,  Cardinal,  511,  513. 
Beckett,    W.    H.,    474,    477  n., 

485  n.,  495  n.,  502  n. 
Bede,  131,  138,  147,  187. 
Behmen,  267. 

Bembo,  Cardinal,  295,  457,  542. 
Benrath,  Life  of  Ochino,  455  n., 

458. 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  8,   112, 

183,  188,  (Sketch)  208  ff. 
Bernardino  of  Busti,  322. 


INDEX 


Bernardino  of  Siena,  317  f. 

Bernher,  A.  (Latimer's  Secre- 
tary), 493. 

Berthold  of  Regensburg,  135  n., 
229,  (Sketch)  256  ff. 

Beste,  Wm.,  Kanzelredner,  384, 

399- 
Beza,  Theodore,  433  n.,  440  and 

note,  442,  445  n.,  448,  450  f., 

459- 

Biel,  Gabriel,  321. 
Bilney,  Thos.,  488. 
Blaurock,  Anabaptist  Preacher, 

468. 
Bloody     Mary,     Influence     on 

Preaching,  476. 
Bohemian     Reformers,     344  ff ., 

460. 

Boissier,  G.,  17  n. 
Bona  ventura,  270,  (Sketch) 

273  ff. 
Boniface     (Winfred),    Apostle 

of  Germany,  8,  137,  (Sketch) 

15.1  ff- 

Boniyard,  438. 

Borgia  (Alexander  VI),  353. 
Borromeo,     St.     Charles,     527, 

(Sketch)  543  ff. 
Boucher,    the    Abbe,    3,    525  f., 

535  n.,  546. 
Bourgain,  the  Abbe,  i8on.,  181, 

189,  204,  207,  211,  215,  226. 
Bradford,       John,       (Sketch) 

498  ff. 

Brandt,  Gerard,  464. 
Brentz,  John,  377,  396  f.,  417. 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life, 

206,  299,  329,  330,  332,  334. 
Brigonnet,  Wm.,  430  f.,  433. 
Briessmann,  John,  462. 
Broadus,    John   A.,    5n,    i6n. 

19,  22  n.,  24  n.,  49,  51  n.,  58 

64,   73,   75,   80,   86 n.,    icon. 

188,  206  n.,   21  r,  241,  283  n. 

309  n.,  367,  370,  374  n.,  381  n. 

449  n.,  471,  494,  502  n. 
Bromel,  ioon.,  102,  373. 
Bucer.   See  Butzer. 
Buchanan,  George,  513. 
Bugenhagen,  John,  392  ff.,  465. 
Bullinger,     Henry,     371,     373, 

(Decades')     3  7  7  f.,   382, 


(Sketch)  41  iff.,  424,  459, 
477,  497- 

Bungener,  F.,  433  n.,  440  n. 

Bunsen,  C.  J.,  56  n. 

Burlesque  Preaching.  See  Sen- 
sational Preaching. 

Butzer,  Martin,  373,  374,  424, 
427,  (Sketch)  428  f.,  409. 

Csedmpn,  131. 

Csesarius  of  Aries,  126,  187. 

Csesarius  of  Heisterbach,  260. 

Callistus,  57. 

Calvin,  John,  8,  10,  369,  370, 
373,  376,  377,  381,  (on  But- 
zer) 429,  (to  Roussel)  431, 
435,  (with  Farel)  436,  439  f., 
(Sketch)  440  ff.,  520. 

Canisius,  Peter,  527,  530,  539  ff. 

Canon  of  Scripture,  40  f.,  66. 

Capistrano,  John,  317,  349. 

Capito,  Wolfgang,  373,  416, 
(Sketch)  425  ff-»  428,  444, 
469. 

Cappadpcia,  76  f. 

Capuchins,  527. 

Caraffa,  527. 

Carlstadt,  467. 

Carlyle,  Thps.,  389. 

Carnesecchi,  Pietro,  455  f. 

Carpenter,  Bishop  W.  Boyd,  84, 

93- 

Carranza  of  Toledo,  453. 

Cassian,  93. 

Cauvin,  Gerard,  Father  of  Cal- 
vin, 440,  441  f.,  443. 

Cazalla,  A.,  453. 

Charlemagne,  129,  (Capitula- 
ria)  134,  ISS- 

Chelchitsky,  460. 

Cheneviere,  C,  433  n.,  439. 

Christlieb,  3,  5  n.,  6,  48,  49,  129, 
237,  261,  367,  463,  465  n., 
526  n.,  534. 

Christopher      of      Alexandria, 

159  ff- 

Chrodegang,  134. 
Chrysostom,  8,  65  n.,   (Sketch) 

86  ff.,  97,  116,  117,  128. 
Church  Buildings,  67  f. 
Cicero,  17,  112. 
Cipriano  of  Valera,  454  f. 


INDEX 


571 


Classification  of  Preachers — 
Parochial,  Cloistral  and  Mis- 
sionary, 134  f.,  166,  196 ; 
Scholastic,  Popular  and  Mys- 
tic, 230! 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  36,  49. 

Clement  of  Rome,  44. 

Clergy,  Corruption  of,  164, 
224  ff.,  297  f.,  311. 

Colet,  John,  295,  (Sketch) 
342  f.,  475. 

Collections  of  Sermons.  See 
Homiliaries. 

Columban.  1.37,  (Sketch)   148 f. 

Conrad  of  Brundelsheim,  261. 

Conrad  the  Priest,  188,  201  f. 

Conrad  of  Waldhausen,  344. 

Constantine,  Emperor,  His 
Toleration  of  Christianity,  63. 

Contents  or  Materials  of  Early 
Preaching,  39  ff. 

Controversy,  Influence  on 
Preaching,  ill,  132,  367, 

374  *•,  533  ff- 

Cop,  Nicholas,  443. 

Corvinus,  A.,  399. 

Council  of  Trent,  on  Preach- 
ing, 525,  528,  532,  544. 

Coverdale,  Miles,  373,  (Sketch) 
486  f. 

Cranmer,  Thos.,  373,  374,  378, 
429,  456,  (Sketch)  482  f.,  494, 

495- 
Cruel,  R.,  138  n.,  148  n.,  153  n., 

i68n.,    i8on.,    185  n.,    189  n., 

199  n.,  201,  256  n.,  307,  309  n., 

319  n.,  344  n. 
Crusades,  Effect  on  Preaching, 

177  f.,  221. 
Cruttwell's  Literary  History  of 

Christianity,  55  n.,  56  n. 
Cutts,     E.     L.,     136  n.,     138  n., 

202  n.,  203. 

Cyprian   (Sketch),  58  f. 
Cyril  of  Alexandria,   112,   116, 

(Sketch)  117. 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  73  f. 

Darnley,  519. 
Datheen,  Peter,  463. 
David  of  Augsburg,  256,  260, 
281. 


Davidson,  Prof.  Thos.,  1711. 

Delivery  of  Sermons,  307. 

Demosthenes,  16,  112. 

Denmark,  Reformation  Preach- 
ers in,  465. 

Devay,  Matthias,  461.- 

Development  (Early)  of 
Preaching,  35  ff. 

Diaz,  J.uan,  454. 

Didache,  37. 

Dietrich,  Veit,  377,  398  f. 

Diodorus  of  Antioch,  Teacher, 
87,  115,  119. 

Dionysius  of  Corinth,  46. 

Dominic,  229,  (Sketch)  245  ff. 

Dominicans,  229. 

Duishuis,  Guibert,  463. 

Durand,  265. 


Eck,  John,  468,  528,  536. 

Eckhart,  10,  267,  (Sketch) 
276  ff.,  331- 

Education  of  the  Ministry, 
Earlier  Centuries,  67 ;  Re- 
formation, 373  f. 

Edward  VI.  and  Reform 
Preaching,  476. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  8,  10. 

Egidio,  Juan  Gil,  452. 

Egidio  of  Viterbo,  541  f. 

Eligius  of  Noyon,  137,  138, 
(Sketch)  145  f. 

Elinand,  234  f. 

Eliot,  Geo.  (Romola),  350  n. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  Relation  to 
Preaching,  477. 

Emerson,  267. 

Ephraem  Syrus}  75  f. 

Erasmus,  Desiderius,  296,  300  f., 
307,  330,  363  f-,  403,  4i6,  426, 
454,  (in  England)  475; 
Paraphrase,  478  f.,  527. 

Eudoxia,  Empress,  90. 

Eusebius,  37,  42  n.,  46,  50,  51, 
56,  (Sketch)  71  f. 

Eusebius  of  Emesa,  72. 

Eutropius,  89. 

Expository  Preaching,  70,  112, 
113,  (of  Luther,  Calvin  and 
other  reformers)  380  ff.,  449, 
466,  (English)  481,  530. 


572 


INDEX 


Faber  Stapulensis,  295,  363.  See 

also  Le  Fevre. 
Fairs,  Preaching  at,  221. 
Farel,  Wm.,  418,  424,  (Sketch) 

433  ff.,  445,  446,  466. 
Featley,  Daniel,  508. 
Ferus.   See  Wild. 
Fichte,  267. 
Fish,   H.   C.,   Masterpieces    of 

Pulpit    Eloquence,    5,    59  n., 

8211.,  86n.}   338,   381,   492  n., 

506  n.,  521. 

Foulques  of  Neuilly,  215  f. 
Fox,  Geo.,  267. 
Francis    of    Assisi,     199,    229, 

(Sketch)  247  ff. 
Franciscans,  229. 
Frith,  John,  479. 
Froment,    Antoine,     433,     436, 

(Sketch)  437  f. 
Fulbert  of  Chartres,  169. 
Fulgentius  of  Ruspe,  126. 
Fuller,  Thos.,  265. 

Gall  (Saint),  137,  138,  150 f. 
Gaudentius      of     Brescia,     70, 

(Sketch)  97f. 
Geiler,    John,    of    Kaisersberg, 

313,  (Sketch)  325  ff.,  422, 425. 
Genazzano,  542. 
George  of  Nicomedia,  161. 
George  of  Pisidia,  139. 
George  of  Polentz,  462. 
Germanus,  141. 
Gerson,Jean  Charlier,  (Sketch) 

333  f- 

Gibbon,  91,  99,  H7n. 
Gilpin,  Bernard,  503  f. 
Gobel,  A.,  256  n. 
Golden  Legend,  261  f.,  303. 
Goodman,  Christopher,  523. 
Goodspeed,  E.  J.,  74  n. 
Grebel,     Anabaptist     Preacher, 

468. 
Gregory  I.,  8,  108,  113,  127  ff., 

187. 

Gregory  of  Isauria,  158  f. 
Gregory    Nazianzen,    65  n.,    77, 

(Sketch)  8 1  ff.,  89,  128. 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  10,  65  n.,  77, 

(Sketch)  84  ff. 
Gregory,  Thaumaturgus,  54  f. 


Greek  Language  in  the  Roman 

Church,  55. 
Grindal, Edmund, 478,  (Sketch) 

SOS- 

Gritsch,  John,  319  ff. 
Groot,  Gerhard,  296,   (Sketch) 

329  f. 

Crete's  History  of  Greece,  16  n. 
Grynaeus,  Simon,  416,  422,  444, 

461. 
Guelf  and  Ghibelline,  179. 

Haller,      Berthold,      (Sketch) 

422  ff.,  432. 

Hamilton,  Patrick,  510. 
Harlow,  Wm.,  522. 
Harnack,  Th.  (quoted),  114. 
Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  2411. 
Hatch,  Edwin,  17  n. 
Hauck,  Prof.  A.,  332  n. 
Haymo  of  Halberstadt,  168  f. 
Hemmerlin,  Felix,  400,  404. 
Henry     VIII.,      Influence     on 

Preaching,    476,    (and    Lati- 

mer)  490  f. 

Henry  of  Frimar,  265. 
Henry  of  Lausanne,  218. 
Hering,      Gesch.      der      Pred., 

317  "-,  334  n-,  3.8i  n. 
Hilary    of    Poitiers    (Sketch), 

94- 

Hildebert  of  Tours,  207. 
Hildebrand     (Gregory     VII.), 

156,  177- 
Hippolytus,      35  f.,       (Sketch) 

56  f. 
Historic  Origins  of  Preaching, 

13  ff. 

Hoffmann,  Melchior,  467. 
Holy    Scriptures     (Appeal     in 

Reform  Preaching),  315  f. 
Homiletics,  188,  304  f.,  (Helps) 

309,  380  ff. 

Homiliaries,  187,  199  ff.,  304  f. 
Homilies,  41,  137,  172,  199,  466. 
Homilies   (English),  Books  of, 

479  ff.,  505. 

Homilies  on  the  Statues,  87  ff. 
Honor i us,  Emperor,  62. 
Honorius  Scholasticus,  199  f. 
Hooper,      John,      373,      382!, 

(Sketch)  496  ff. 


INDEX 


573 


Hoppin,  J.  M.,  6,  21  n. 
Hort,  F.  J.  A.,  24  n. 
Hiibmaier,  Balthasar,  (Sketch) 

468  ff. 
Hugo    of     St.     Victor,     216  f., 

269  f .,  273. 
Huss,     John,     291,      (Sketch) 

345  ff- 

Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  364. 
Hypatia,  114,  118. 

Ignatius,  43. 

Ildefonso  of  Toledo,  136,  144! 

Innocent  III.,  179,  224,  231,  235. 

Investiture  Controversy,  179. 

Irenaeus,  36,  (Sketch)  56. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  136. 

Ivo  of  Chartres,  207. 

Jackson,  S.  M.    (on  Zwingli), 

400  n. 

Jacob  of  Voragine,  261. 
Jacques  de  Vitry,  235  f . 
James,  Fleming,  7,  20  n.,  no. 
Jebb's  Attic  Orators,  i6n. 
Jerome  of  Dungersheim,  305. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  348. 
Jerusalem,  Influence  of  Its  Fall 

on  Preaching,  29,  34. 
Jesus,  as  a  Preacher,  22  f. 
Jewel,     John,     373,     383,     478, 

(Sketch)  506  ff. 
Joachim  of  Floris,  198  f. 
John  the  Baptist,  21  f. 
John       of       Damascus,       133, 

(Sketch)   141  ff. 
John  of  Sterngassen,  280. 
John  of  Vicenza,  261. 
Jonas,  Justus,  388,  395  f. 
Jordan  of  Pisa,  264. 
Jordan  of  Quedlinburg,  265. 
Joris,  David,  467. 
Juan,  de  Avila,  451,   (Sketch) 

546. 
Jud,  Leo,  370 f.,  373,   (Sketch) 

409  ff.,  416. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  61. 
Justinian,  106,  107. 
Justin  Martyr,  10,  37,  46  f. 

Kempis,    Thomas    a,    296,    329, 
(Sketch)  332. 


Ker,  John,  7,  20  n.,  59  n.,  283  n. 

Kingsley's  Hypatia,  11411., 
11711. 

Klostermann,  52. 

Knox,  John,  8,  369,  373,  (in 
England)  502,  (Sketch) 
512  ff.,  (Compared  with 
Other  Reformers)  513  and 
520. 

Kostlin,  Julius,  Life  of  Luther, 
384  n. 

Kratander,  417. 

Lambert,   Frangois,  423, 

(Sketch)  432  f.,  510. 
Lanfranc,  171,  177. 
Langlois  and  Seignobos,  4. 
Langston,  Stephen,  233. 
Lasco,  John  a,  374,  461  f.,  472. 
Latimer,    Hugh,   371,  373,   378, 

382,  (Sketch)  487  ff. 
Latin    Language    in    Sermons, 

131,    138,    151,    164  ff.,    184  ff., 

197,  306  f.,  530  f. 
Law  of  Reaction,  109. 
Lawson,  James,  524. 
Leander  of  Seville,  136. 
Lecoy    de    la    Marche,    165  n., 

:8on.,    184,    185,    193  n.,   204, 

215,  226,  228,  233,  235  f.,  323. 
Le    Fevre,  Jacques,    430,    431, 

433,  527. 
Lentz,    5,    Sin.,    96  n.,     11711., 

iign.,  157  n. 
Leo   I.,  8,   108,    113,    (Sketch) 

123  f. 

Leonardo  of  Utino,  318  f. 
Leroux,  Abbe,  534,  536. 
Lever,  Thos.,  477,  503. 
Libanius,  Teacher  of  Rhetoric, 

78,  86,  115. 
Lightfoot,  J.  B.,  24  n. 
Lindsay,  T.  M.,  24  n.,  37  n. 
Linsenmayer,  A.,  180  n.,   185  n., 

189  n.,    199  n.,    201  n.,    256  n., 

285  n. 
Literature    of    the    History   of 

Preaching,  5  ff. 
Liturgy,    Effect   on    Preaching, 

109  f,  531. 

Longfellow,  H.  W.,  303. 
Lollards,  341,  369,  474  f. 


574 


INDEX 


Lords     of     the     Congregation, 

516,517- 

Lorenzo  dei  Medici,  295,  352. 
Luiz  of  Granada,  527,  (Sketch) 

547  ff- 
Luther,  Martin,  8,  335,  364,  369, 

370,  372  f.,  374,  375,  376,  377, 

380  f.,    (Sketch)    384  ff.,   394, 

405,  407  f.,  462,  520. 

Macarius,  73. 

"  Maccaroni      Sermons,"      323, 

325-. 
McCrie,  Thos.,  Life  of  Knox, 

510  n.,   511,   51311.,   516,   520, 

521,  522,  523. 
McGlothlin,  W.  J.,  468  n. 
"  Mad  Men  of  Miinster,"  467. 
Maillard,      Oliver,      302,      313, 

(Sketch)  324! 
Major,  George,  399. 
Mantz,     Anabaptist     Preacher, 

468. 
Marenco,  L.,  180  n.,  185  n.,  197, 

302,  304,  317  n. 
Margaret  of  Navarre,  443. 
Martel,  Charles,  130,  152. 
Martyn,  Henry,  91  n. 
Mary  Stuart,  517  ff. 
Materials  for  Writing  History 

of  Preaching,  4. 
Mathesius,  John,  377,  399,  460. 
Matthias  of  Janow,  345. 
Maurice  of  Sully,  214  f . 
Maximus  of  Turin,  123. 
Maybaum,  Rabbi,  21  n. 
Melanchthon,  Philip,  364,  391  f., 

417,  422. 
Melito,  46. 

Menno  Simons,  471  f. 
Menot,  Michel,  302,  325. 
Meray,  A.,  302,  304,  325  n. 
Migne,  Patrologia  Grceca,S2n-> 

139  n.,  158  n.,  159  n.,  161. 
Migne,  Patrologia  Latino,  94  n., 

95  n->  97n->  9811.,  ioon.,   124, 

126  n.,    127  n.,    134  n.,    145  n., 

14711.,    148,    149,    151,    170  n., 

19711.,    199  n.,    20311.,    20511., 

207  n.,  208  n.,  211,  234  n. 
Milicz,  John,  344. 
Milton,  gi. 


Mirandola,  Count  of,  352. 

Modet,  Herman,  463. 

Monasticism,  Influence  on 
Preaching,  135  f.,  163  f.,  225. 

Monica,  Mother  of  Augustine, 
78,  loo  f. 

Montalembert,  136. 

Moody,  D.  L.,  229. 

Morgenstern,  George,  321. 

Morris,  Old  English  Homilies, 
136  n.,  180  n.,  185,  193,  202  f. 

Morton,  Earl  of  (Eulogy  on 
Knox),  520. 

Miinzer,  Thos.,  467. 

Murray,  Earl  of,  519. 

Musso,  Cprnelio,  542  f. 

Myconius,  Oswald,  373, 
(Sketch)  419 ff. 

Mysticism,  73,  266  ff.,  (Women) 
269,  (in  Schools  and  Clois- 
ters) 269,  (Preaching  and 
Preachers)  270  ff. 

Nas,  John,  534  f.,  536. 

Neale,  J.  M.,  147  n.,  i68n., 
170  n.,  172  n. 

Neander,  i8on.,  208  n. 

Nebe,  51  n.,  73,  256  n.,  370,  372, 
384  n. 

Need  of  a  History  of  Preach- 
ing, 7  f- 

Nestorius,  116,  118. 

Netherlands,  Reform  Preach- 
ers in,  463  ff. 

Newman,  Cardinal,  473. 

Newman,  A.  H.,  45  n. 

Nicholas  of  Clemanges,  305. 

Nicholas  of  Landau,  264. 

Nicholas  of  Lyra,  265. 

Nicholas  Oresmus,  343. 

Nicholas  of  Strasburg,  281  f. 

Nonna,  Mother  of  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  78. 

Norbert,  Founder  of  Premon- 
strants,  213  f. 

Ochino,       Bernardino,      455  n., 

(Sketch)  457  ff- 
CEcolampadius,  John,  373,  411, 

(Sketch)     416  ff.,     424,     434, 

469. 
Oliphant,  Mrs.,  350  n. 


INDEX 


575 


Olivetan,  Robert,  435,  442. 
Oratorical       Development       of 
Preaching    in    Fourth    Cen- 
tury, 62  ff. 
Oratory,  14  ff. 

"      Ancient,  15. 
"      Greek,  16  f. 
"      Latin,  17. 
Origen,      10,      35  f-,      37,      4§, 

(Sketch)  49 ff. 

Osiander,  A.,  370,  398,  399,  462. 
Outline  of  the  History,  25  ff. 

Pacianus,  of  Barcelona,  96  f . 

Palladius,  Peter,  465. 

Paniel,  5  n.,  6,  36  n.,  51  n.,  74, 
85,  94  n.,  95,  96  n.,  97  n., 
loo  n.,  115. 

Panigarola,  Francesco,  545  f. 

Parati  Sermones,  309. 

Parker,  Matthew,  373,  477,  487, 
504  f- 

Pascal,  211. 

Patriarchs,  108. 

Patrick  (Saint),  121  f. 

Pattison,  T.  H.,-7,  22 n.,  283 n. 

Paul,  the  Apostle,  8. 

Pelbart,  321. 

Pellican,  373. 

Peregrinus,  260. 

Perez,  Juan,  454. 

Periods  of  the  History,  28. 

Persecutions,  29,  32,  34  f.,  62  f. 

Pestalozzi,  C,  Life  of  Jud,  409, 
422  n. 

Peter  of  Blois,  204. 

Peter  of  Bruys,  218. 

Peter  Comestor,  214. 

Peter  Damiani,  170  f.,  177. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  183,  (Sketch) 
206. 

Peter  Lombard,  197,  214. 

Peter  of  Ravenna,  123. 

Petri,  Olaf  and  Laurent,  465  f. 

Photius,  161  f. 

Plagiarism,  187,  308  f. 

Poland,  Refugees  and  Reform- 
ers in,  461  f. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  456,  477. 

Polycarp,  43. 

Ponce  de  la  Fuente,  452  f. 

Postil,  Postulating,  305  f.,  466. 


Prayer-Book    (English),   Rela- 
tion to  Preaching,  479. 
Preger,  Geschichtc  der  Mystik, 

266  n.,  280. 
Preaching  and  Art,  9. 

Education,  n. 
History,  8  ff. 
Literature,  n. 
Modern  Life, 

558  ff. 
Morals,  9. 
Philosophy,  9  f. 
Science,  10. 
Spread  of  Chris- 
tianity, 12;  Worship,  69. 
Presbyters,       Preaching       Re- 
stricted to,  69. 
Preservation  of  Early  Sermons. 

42,  70,  1 86. 
Proclus,  116. 
Prophecy,  18  ff. 

Protestantism,  Effect  on  Chris- 
tianity, 365. 

Quadratus,  46. 
Quintilian,  17. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  167  f. 

Rabelais,  363. 

Raoul  (Radulphus)  the  Ardent. 
183,  189,  (Sketch)  206  f. 

Reformation  and  Preaching, 
358  ff.,  (Effect  on  Catholic 
Church)  366,  (Particular  Re- 
lation to  Preaching)  366  ff., 
(in  Italy)  455  f-,  (in  Eng- 
land) 473  ff.,  (in  Scotland) 
509  ff.,  (Influence  on  Catho- 
lic Preaching)  525  ff. 

Reformers,  (Their  Use  of 
Other  Means)  369,  (Their 
Diligence  in  Preaching) 
370  f.,  (Their  Use  and  Esti- 
mation of  Preaching)  372  ff., 
(Their  Abilities  and  Train- 
ing) 374,  (Their  Use  of  the 
Word  of  God)  376  ff.,  (Their 
Homiletical  Methods)  380  ff. 

Reform  Preaching,  310,  312, 
314  f.,  336  ff. 

Regulars  and  Seculars,  164, 
224  f. 


576 


INDEX 


Renaissance,  294  f.,  362,  527. 

Retrospect  and  Summary,  552  ff. 

Reublin,  Anabaptist  Preacher, 
468, 469. 

Reuchlin,  John,  364. 

Revival  of  Learning,  294  ff., 
362. 

Revival  of  Preaching  in  Mid- 
dle Ages,  181  ff. 

Rhetoric,  Study  of,  and  Influ- 
ence on  Preaching,  65  f. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  217  f., 
269  f.,  273. 

Ridley,  Nicholas,  373,  478,  485, 
(Sketch)  494 ff. 

Robert  Grosseteste  of  Lincoln, 
234- 

Robert  of  Lecce,  303,  323. 

Robert  of  Sorbon,  237. 

Rogers,  John,  484  ff. 

Rokytsana,  460. 

Roman  Emperors,  Relation  to 
Preaching,  31  ff. 

Rothe,  R.,  6,  36  n.,  42  n.,  56  n., 
116,  H7n.,  119,  120,  123,  133, 
139.  157  n.,  162,  203  n.,  204, 
302  f.,  317  n.,  319  n.,  333  n., 
344  n.,  534- 

Rothmann,  Bernard,  467. 

Rough,  John,  503,  512,  514. 

Roussel,  Gerard,  431. 

Ruiz,  Gregorio,  453. 

Ruysbroek,  John,  331  f. 

Sabatier,  A.,  198  n.,  247  n.,  250  n. 

Sandys,  Edwin,  478,  506. 

Saunier,  435,  466. 

Savonarola,  G.,  8,  (Sketch) 
350  ff.,  (Compared  with  Oth- 
er Reformers)  354,  358. 

Schaff,  Philip,  Church  History, 
56,  01,  66,  75  n.,  ii7n.,  118, 
iign.,  128,  143  n.,  155 "-. 
156  n.,  161  n. 

Scherer,  E.,  21  n. 

Schism,  Between  East  and 
West,  155. 

Schoell,  C,  121  n.,  170  n. 

Scholasticism,  231  ff.,  (Decline 
of)  263  f. 

Schott,  E.,  198  n.,  199. 

Schrenck,  E.  von,  22  n. 


Sears'  History  of  Oratory,  16  n. 
Sensational    Preaching    in    the 

Middle  Ages,  244,  302  ff. 
Sermones  Dormi  Secure,  309. 
Servetus,  447. 

Sickingen,  Francis  of,  417. 
Sigismund,  Emperor,  291,  347  f. 
Simons.    See  Menno. 
Smith,  Geo.  Adam,  20  n. 
Social  Classes,  131,  133  f.,  164, 

221  f.,  361. 
Sophronius,  139. 
Spangenberg,  John,  399. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  14. 
Speratus       (Spretter),       Paul, 

462  f. 
Stahelin,   R.,  Life  of  Zwingli, 

400  n. 

Stalker,  Jas.,  20  n.,  22  n. 
Staupitz,  335,  385,  527. 
Steinberger,  Hans,  460. 
Stephen  of  Bourbon,  260. 
Stephens,  W.  R.  W.,  86  n. 
Storrs,  R.  S.,  208  n. 
Stromberger,  C.  W.,  256  n. 
Surgant,  Ulrich,  305,  307. 
Suso,  Henry,  279  ff. 
Sweden,  Reform  Preachers  in, 

465  f- 

Synagogue,  20  f. 
Synesius,  H4f. 

Tanchelm,  218. 

Tauler,    John,    267,     (Sketch) 

283  ff.,  331,  425- 
Tausen,  Hans,  465. 
Tertullian, 46,  (Sketch)  58. 
Tetzel,  364,  386. 
Theatines,  527. 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  115. 
Theodore  Studies,  143  f. 
Theodoret,  112,  (Sketch)   119. 
Theodosius  the  Great,  61  f.,  83, 

87,  99,  106. 
Theophanes,  162. 
Theophilus  of  Alexandria,  89, 

90, 115. 

Theophilus  of  Antioch,  46. 
Theophylact,  162. 
Times    for    Preaching,    Earlier 

Centuries,    68,    192;    Middle 

Ages,  307. 


INDEX 


577 


Tindale,  Wm.,  478  n.,  479, 
(Sketch)  483  f. 

Tiraboschi,  455  n.,  457,  541,  543, 
546. 

Translations  (English)  of  the 
Bible,  Influence  on  Preach- 
ing, 478. 

Truber,  Primus,  460. 

Tunstall,  Bishop,  483,  504. 

Ulfilas,  76. 

Ullmann,  Reformers  before  Re- 
formation, 296,  312,  331  n. 
Universities,  222  f. 
Urban  II.,  177,  178,  205. 

Valdez,  Alfonso,  453. 
Valdez,  Juan,  453  f.,  456. 
Valentinus,  the  Gnostic,  49. 
Valer,  Rodrigo,  451  f. 
Valerio,  528. 

Van  Oosterzee,  3,  6,  463. 
Vaughan,  Hours  with  the  Mys- 
tics, 73  n.,  211,  217  n.,  266  ff. 
Veghe,  John,  334. 
Verger io,  455,  461. 
Vermigli,    Peter    Martyr,    374, 

455  n.,  (Sketch)  456  f.,  458!, 

494,  504,  506. 
Vernacular,   Use   of,    131,    138, 

151,  165  ff.,  184  ff.,  197,  306  f. 
Villanova,      Thos.,       (Sketch) 

549  ff. 
Villari,    Life     of    Savonarola, 

350  n. 

Vincent  Ferrar  (Saint),  322. 
Viret,  Pierre,  433,434,  (Sketch) 

438  ff. 


Virgin  Mary,  Worship  and 
Preaching,  132,  133,  139,  140, 
143,  157,  iQi. 

Waldenses,  435,  466. 

Waldo,  Peter,  218. 

Walrond,    F.    F.,    121  n.,    122, 

151  n. 

Walter  of  Winterbourne,  265. 
Werdena,  John,  309. 
Werner  of  Ellerbach,  201. 
Wesel,   John   Richsrath,   349!, 

425. 

Wesley,  John,  8. 
Wessel,  John,  296,  330. 
Whitefield,  George,  8,  229. 
Wiclif,  John,  8,  310,    (Sketch) 

336  ff.,  473,  474. 
Wild,  John,  529,  530,  536  ff. 
William  of  Auvergne,  260. 
William  of  Macclesfield,  265. 
Willibrord,  137,  152. 
Willock,  John,  522  f. 
Wishart,  George,  511. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  475,  490. 
Wyttenbach,    Thos.,    401,    416, 

425- 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  292,  451. 

Zanotto,    F.,    197,    317  n.,    525, 

541  n.,  546. 

Zell,  Matthew,  425,  427,  428. 
Zeno  of  Verona,  96. 
Zwickau  Prophets,  467. 
Zwingli,  Ulrich,   369,  370,  373. 

376,     382,     (Sketch)     400  ff., 

469,  470,  520. 


THE  PREPARATION  AND 
DELIVERY  OF  SERMONS 

JOHN      A.      BROADUS,      D.D.,LL.D. 

28lh  EVITIOSf 

ENTIRELY  REVISED  FROM  THE  AUTHOR'S  OWN  NOTES  BY 
PROF.  E.  C.  DARGAN,  D.D. 

Author  of  "A  History  of  Preaching";     Professor  of  Homiletics  at  the  Southern 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  Louisville,  Ky.,  etc. 


Complete  Index,  Crown  8vo,  Cloth,  582  Pages.      $1.75 


THIS  new  edition  of  the  work  of  a  very  able  teacher, 
who  had  a  practical  knowledge  of  his  subject  and 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  all  parts  of  it,  while 
treating  the  whole  with  devoutness,  thoroughness, 
blended  scholarship  and  good  sense,  will  still  further 
enhance  the  value  of  an  important  standard  book.  The 
work  not  only  meets  the  wants  of  students  and  young 
ministers,  but  is  very  suggestive  and  stimulating  to 
those  of  maturer  age.  It  takes  unusual  care  to  give 
suggestions  for  the  preparation  and  conduct  of  what 
is  called  extemporaneous  discourse,  while  doing  full 
justice  to  all  the  methods. 


Prominent    Opinions  of  Iht 

BISHOP  J.  F.  HURST:  "A   most   valuable   work  in  a  difficult 
and  delicate  department  of  theological  study." 

BISHOP  JOHN  H.  VINCENT:    "The  book  of  Dr.  Broadus  is 

everyway  admirable." 
BISHOP    E.    R.    HENDRIX:    "The    best    work    on    Rhetoric 

extant." 
THE  WATCHMAN:  "One  of  the  best  volumes  on  the  subject 

that  has  been  given  to  the  world." 
THE    PRESBYTERIAN:     "A   widely    popular    text-book    on 

Homiletics." 

This  book  has  been  adopted  for  teaching  in  Japanese  mis- 
sions and  has  been  translated  into  Portuguese  and  Chinese. 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  &  SON,  NEW  YORK 


?RSITV  OF  1AL 


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D2I 


A 001117821     7 


